The witch
by LoSa
Summary: "Teen Power inc" went out of town to pick up herbs for an old lady. Near the old overgrown lake they found a weird amulet. Nick's POV.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1. The rotten place

To pick up herbs out of town for an old lady wasn't my idea of a sensible job, but the others didn't object. Liz likes to collect herbs and rocks. Sunny's always glad to walk or run. Elmo and Tom just were happy to take a walk out of town, collecting herbs and would be paid for it. I needed money. The whole week of the holidays was past and there wasn't any job for Teen Power Inc. Everyone was glad to take any job. It had been raining every day during the last two weeks, and we all were sick to stay at home. At last Liz rang yesterday and said that she had had a call about job.

'An old lady wants us to pick up officinal herbs for her,' she said when we gathered in the Pen office. 'The job is easy, interesting and she will pay good money.'

'Easy? Liz, are you kidding'? I objected. 'To walk through the wet bush isn't easy and interesting at all! It's disgusting!'

She looked at me angrily.

'We haven't got any other job, Nick,' she said. 'Holidays are passing by, we need to take any job we can get.'

The others agreed with her. So we went to this old woman straightaway. She explained what kinds of herbs she wanted and gave samples. We decided that we'd go out of town as soon as the rain stopped. Even Richelle didn't object, though she hated even dry bush. And nobody listened to me.

As ill luck, the rain had stopped the next day. We gathered on the outskirts of Raven Hill and went into the wet, disgusting forest. In an half of an hour Richelle began complaining that she was cold, and that the water dropped from the trees and fell on her and that she got wet to the skin. But nobody paid attention to her. Everyone was busy picking up the right herbs. The more herbs we'll find, the more money we'll receive, I kept saying to myself. It made me look down attentively and pick up the right wet herbs. Liz, Elmo and Sunny had already picked up a lot of herbs. Tom was too busy cracking jokes, so he wasn't very successful. Richelle cautiously wandered between the trees, trying not to dirt her clothes and boots. The last thing she was thinking about was the herbs. As for me, I was in bad mood and I didn't feel like bending for every single herb and picked up only bunch of herbs. So I wasn't successful either.

We had been wandered through the bush for about three hours.

'When will it finish?' I thought bending for a bunch of herbs with little blue flowers.

'Aaa!' suddenly I heard Tom's scream and crackle of twigs.

'Tom! What's up?' Liz rushed to him through the bushes.

'Moysten fell again,' I grumbled with irritation. 'Nothing new.'

'Tom, where are you?' Liz was looking around.

'I'm here. I fell down,' we heard Tom's voice from somewhere below.

'I wish we hadn't come here! It's so wet and greasy here, and there's so much clay,' Richelle was muttering under her breath.

Elmo moved the thick twigs of a bush apart, but Tom still wasn't in sight.

'Tom, where are you?' Elmo called.

'I'm here, down in the pit,' we heard Tom's voice. 'Help me!'

Finally I managed to see him. He tried to climb up from the deep pit.

'Where's he?' asked Sunny, coming up to us.

'I can't see him,' said Richelle, looking up at the tops of the trees.

'You'd better look down,' I suggested with a grin. 'As far as I know Tom doesn't fly yet.'

'That is he flies,' grinned Elmo. 'But only down.'

He knelt on the ground and tried to pull Tom out of the pit, but his feet slid on wet grass and he almost joined Tom in the pit.

'No,' Elmo shook his curly head. 'I'm not going to pull him alone. Guys, you've got to help me. I'll be pulling him and you all hold me.'

He took Tom's hands. Liz and Sunny grabbed Elmo's legs and began to pull him backward. I sighed and joined them. At last Tom climbed out of the pit. He was covered with dirt and clay from head to feet.

'You look great,' I grinned.

Tom gave me a dirt look, trying to clean off the dirt from his jeans with a big leaf.

'By the way, Tom, where's your bag with herbs?' I carefully inquired.

'I don't know,' he shrugged gloomily. 'Guess I left it down there.'

He looked gingerly down in the pit. The bag was lying on the bottom.

'I'm not going there,' he announced.

'We'll come back here and take your bag when it gets dry,' Sunny decided. 'It doesn't matter now. There weren't many herbs in your bag.

'Well, everyone does what they can do,' I smirked. 'You and I find the herbs, but Tom finds the good deep pits'.

'I'm sick of you Kontellis,' Tom sighed.

'I think it's time we went home,' Richelle suggested hopefully.

'Yeah,' Sunny agreed. 'We've already picked up enough herbs.'

'Let's go around,' said Elmo. 'In this way we'll be able to pick up more herbs in our way home.'

'Oh no,' I groaned. 'Let's go _straight_ home!'

But the others, except Richelle of course, agreed with Elmo.

So, we went home around the forest. I was getting more and more annoyed. All what I wanted was to go home, to take a shower and to have a little rest. The forest became thicker. There were very tall trees with huge branches. The ground was completely covered by ivy and ferns. Despite it was just midday, there was a dim, because of closed crowns of the trees. A deep silence hung around. Richelle cautiously stepped on the ivy carpet muttering to herself something about snakes and spiders. The others walked in silence, even Tom. Everyone felt that we went to wrong side, but it was too late to turn back. We didn't even know from where we'd come. The forest around us was the same in all sides.

'I think in ancient times bandits mugged the travelers in such places,' Liz shivered.

'What travelers in such back of beyond?' Sunny responded in surprise.

'Are you sure we're not lost?' Richelle asked carefully.

'Raven Hill is straight on the west,' Elmo looked at his compass. 'We're going straight to the west, so there's no need to worry. We'd better go ahead than go back. Otherwise we really can get lost. Oh wow!'

He leaped aside and beckoned us.

'Look! That's what we need!' he exclaimed standing on the carpet of herb that we needed.

We rushed to pick up the herb. When we finished, our bags were full. Not bad. A lot of herbs mean a lot of money. So, at least we'll be paid well for this heavy day.

We went further. The forest became thicker and thicker. We hardly went through bushes and trees, snagging on the branches all the time.

'It's so dark here,' Liz said quietly.

'It's raining,' Elmo pointed out. 'The sky is covered by clouds. Here must be dark even in fine days.'

I looked up. The grey mist went through the closed crowns of trees.

'It's the end of the world,' mumbled Richelle.

'Cheer up, guys! We've picked up a lot of herbs,' exclaimed Sunny. 'We'll be paid well when we get home.'

'Firstly we should find the right way to get home,' I grumbled. My legs were about to fall off.

All of a sudden the trees disappeared and we stepped on a huge clearing. There was a dark overgrown lake in the middle of the clearing. The thick bushes and trees rimmed the clearing from all sides. The smell of rotten grass and mire hung in the air. We looked around in surprise.

'Where are we?' Liz put our thoughts into words.

'What a disgusting smell!' Richelle wrinkled her nose. 'This place gives me the creeps.'

'I guess I know where we are,' Elmo said slowly. 'It must be the Witch Lake.'

Of course, he was very well-read and observant and he knew a lot of things about Raven Hill. We all stared at him.

'The Witch Lake?' I sighed. 'You don't mean that witches live here, do you?'

'Well, I don't know if they live here now, but one of them had lived here long time ago,' responded Elmo.

'Oh yeah,' I laughed. 'And she used to fly on her broom around this pool.'

Blow of wind stirred the leaves on the trees. Richelle shivered.

'Don't laugh,' Elmo frowned. 'This witch, named Galina, really lived here seventy or hundred years ago. My grandma told me about it. Her hut was over there.

He pointed at somewhere not far from us.

'Was she a real witch?' Tom asked with interest.

'As far as I remember from grandma's stories, she used to do hoo-doo and hex and charm and other stuff like it. Because of it people made her leave Raven Hill.

'Listen, Tom,' Sunny interrupted. 'Why don't you wash your hands and face? You'd look really silly going over the town in such dirty clothes.'

'Okay,' he grinned and went towards the lake.

'Be careful. There is a boggy ground,' Elmo warned him. 'You'd better go that way.' He pointed at the overgrown track.

Tom staggered there. But hardly had he done few steps when he stopped.

'Look,' he beckoned to us. 'Someone made a fire here.'

'That's right,' Sunny exclaimed in surprise.

We just stood there and stared at the fire-pit for a while. It was quite weird. A big pile of ash in the centre, further was a stripe of green grass and behind it was a burned circle as if it had been outlined by a huge pair of compasses.

'How weird,' Liz said thoughtfully. 'Why did somebody burn a circle around the big fire?'

'I think it's the witch fire,' Elmo said slowly.

'Witch fire? What do you mean?' Richelle widened her big blue eyes.

'Yeah,' Elmo went on. 'I read that witches set such fires during their Sabbaths. The big fire in the centre and the circle of fire around it. It helps them to call the evil spirits. Usually it happens under the light of the full moon.'

'Are you serious?' I stared at him.

'Do you think it's a joke?' Tom pointed at the strange fire-pit.

'But Elmo, you said that Galina had died seventy or hundred years ago,' Sunny reminded.

Richelle's fingernails dug into my arm. 'She might be dead, but it's still a sort of rotten place,' she mumbled. 'And by the way, witches never completely die. Their souls never die. And they always have pupils.'

Richelle believed in this stuff about witches and ghosts. I think it's stupid. But stupid or not it was awful to stay in that spooky dark place beside the strange fire-pit.

'Did Galina have any pupils?' Tom asked.

'How would I know,' shrugged Elmo.

'Hey guys, the full moon will come soon,' Liz whispered, looking around with fear in her eyes.

'It means they might come here again,' Elmo said.

'Who? Her pupils?' I raised one eyebrow.

'I don't know,' Elmo shrugged. 'But my grandma told me that dead witches became alive once a year and appeared where they'd lived before. She told me, that one day she was walking along the street and met Galina. Grandma greeted her, Galina replied and passed by. Only then my grandma realized that Galina had been dead for years. She said that obviously it was time for her to die because Galina had come from the underworld to take her away.'

'So?' I asked impatiently.

'So my grandma had gone forever in a week after that,' Elmo said.

The sky was completely covered by the dark heavy clouds. It was just a midnight, but twilight deepened over the clearing. We didn't hear any bird. There was a complete creepy silence around. I felt uncomfortable. Richelle moved closer to me, I put my arm around her.

'Listen Tom,' Liz said nervously. 'Wash your hands quickly and let's go out of here.'

'Yeah,' Sunny nodded. 'I'm cold.'

Tom took a step towards the lake, but tripped over a tussock and fell down. Again.

'Tom! For heaven's sake!' Sunny sighed.

Now Tom was covered with a layer of ooze above the layer of clay.

'Well, Moysten,' I giggled. 'Now we can grow plants on you.'

He didn't bother to answer me, just knelt down on the ground and started wiping his hands with a fern. Suddenly he bent down and picked up something from the grass. The next moment his squeal tore the silence, what made all of us jump. We stared at him. He carefully held a strange thing on the chain.

'It seems like a piece of mummy,' Richelle gazed at the thing in horror.

'It looks as if someone wore it on his or her neck,' I said. Then I looked closer at the thing. 'Boy, is it a dried hoof?'

'That's right,' Elmo nodded. 'It's the dried hoof of a little goat.'

'Nobody, except a witch, would wear such awful thing on the neck, if you ask me,' Liz whispered.

'It proves that someone had had a Sabbaths here', Richelle breathed, squeezing my arm more tightly.

'Yeah', Tom said slowly. 'And this thing must have fallen from someone's neck. Look here, the chain is broken.'

'What could have they done to break such thick chain?' Sunny patted the massive chain thoughtfully.

'Maybe there was a scuffle between witches,' I snorted.

'Be careful Nick, don't insult them,' Richelle warned me.

'Don't be stupid guys!' Sunny snapped. 'I don't believe in witches. There must be a reasonable explanation of it.'

'It could be a sect,' Liz's eyes widened.

'Okay, let's go out of here,' Sunny ordered. 'We'll discuss it when we get home.'

She went back and turned to the west. I put the thing into my pocket automatically and followed the others. We skirted the lake and made our way through bushes to the west. We went on and on. When I started thinking that we'd never find the way out I saw a gap in the bushes ahead and soon the first houses appeared.

We dropped in the herbs, we'd collected to the old lady's place and received our money. She said she needed more herbs, so we decided to go in the forest again in a day. She agreed and after that we went home at last.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. A weird guest.**

When I got home mum was drinking coffee with her new friend, Marina Tamon, who'd been living in Raven Hill for a couple of months. I came into the kitchen and pulled off my wet jacket.

'Hi, sweetheart,' mum hugged me and kissed my cheek. 'You're so wet.'

'I'm okay, ma, don't worry.' I ran upstairs, had a quick shower and changed. I felt much better after that. I returned into the kitchen, where two women were still chattering.

'Ma, I'm hungry!' I knew that she could chatter with this Ms Tamon all day long.

'Your lunch is on the table.'

I sat at the table. While I helped myself with a salad, mum took my jacket which I'd left here.

'For heaven's sake! What is it?' my mother squealed. 'Where did you get it?'

I looked over my shoulder, puzzling what could frighten her. Mum cautiously held the dried goat's hoof with two fingers, looking disgusted. Both women were staring at the thing in horror.

'Where did you get it, Nicholas?' mum repeated firmly.

'In the bush,' I responded, trying to sound casual.

'In the bush? Where in the bush?' Ms Tamon glanced at me attentively.

'Um… there was a little mire. We found it there.' I said, skipping the details.

'Oh, I see,' Ms Tamon concentrated on her cup of coffee. But I could see that her face was pale.

'Mire?' my mother frowned. 'Why did you go there? You might drown!'

'No mum, it's very little mire,' I said quickly. 'It's impossible to drown there. We just picked up herbs around it.'

'But why have you brought this rubbish?' Mum pointed at the hoof again. 'Don't you know that such stuff can have diseases?'

'Oh, come on, ma!' I waved my hand and flung myself on the food.

She threw the hoof into a rubbish bin. I was eating, pretending that I didn't care. I'll take it later, I decided.

'May I use your bathroom,' after a few minutes Marina asked self-consciously.

'Sure! I'll show you where to go,' mum nodded and the two of them went out of the kitchen.

I rushed to the rubbish-bin and managed to pull out the hoof from it a few seconds before mum came back. I decided to hide the amulet in my room and mumbling something to mum, I ran out of the kitchen. I raced upstairs and was walking up the hallway when the door of my bedroom opened slowly and Ms Tamon carefully went out. We stared at each other.

'Oh, I'm sorry! I was searching for the bathroom,' she smiled at me, pretending to look confused.

'It's not bathroom,' I said gloomily.

'Yeah, I see,' she laughed, avoiding my eyes. Then she smiled again and went pass me.

I cautiously stepped into my bedroom. Everything seemed to be on its place.

'Don't be stupid,' I muttered to myself. 'It must be a sort of mistake. If she wanted to steal something she'd go in other room. There's nothing interesting for her here.'

I threw the hoof into the drawer and ran down.

###

I woke up in the middle of the night. Moonlight slightly flowed through the window. I rolled over and looked at the clock. Two thirty. I closed my eyes and almost fell asleep when I heard a noise from the half-opened window. A branch cracked. And silence again. I lay on my bed, listening hard, but I heard nothing. There was a complete silence, interrupted sometimes only by birds and whisper of leaves.

I tried to sleep but I felt thirsty now. I lay in bed tossing and turning. Finally I realized that if didn't drink I wouldn't fall asleep. I crawled out of warm bed reluctantly and left my room heading for the kitchen. I trudged drowsily downstairs, when all of a sudden, I heard a rustle behind the kitchen door. I froze and tiptoed closer.

'Who is it?' I asked cautiously.

Something banged and jingled behind the door. I threw the door open and switched the light on.

My jaw dropped when I see the mess. The window was open, trash from the bin was lying everywhere on the floor. But there was no one. I just stood in the doorway, looking around when I heard a snarl behind me, which scared me half to death.

'What is going on here?' my dad growled.

'I don't know,' I shrugged.

Dad came into the kitchen and looked around. 'Nicholas! Why have you done that?' he glared at me.

'It wasn't me,' I shook my head. 'I just wanted…'

I didn't manage to say because at that moment a black, screaming ball dived at my father from the shelf. Dad jumped aside. His feet slid on the potato peels and he collapsed onto the floor. The black cat leaped through the window and disappeared in the night.

'How did a cat get in?' dad growled, sitting on the floor and rubbing the bottom of his back.

'I don't know,' I shrugged.

'And you don't know who opened the window, do you?' he went on furiously.

'I don't,' I shook my head.

At that moment mum came into the kitchen.

'What's up?' she asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes with her hand. 'For goodness sake!' she exclaimed, looking around at the mess. 'Nicko, why did you do that?'

'I didn't do it,' I tried to sound calm, but a surge of irritation raised in my chest.

'Oh, you didn't?' she looked at me steadily. 'And you didn't open the window, did you?'

'Right,' I nodded briefly.

'Stop lying!' she yelled. 'Do you think your father and me are fools? I know why you rummaged in the bin.'

'Why did he rummage?' asked dad with interest in his dark eyes.

'Of course he was looking for that horrible hoof, which he'd brought from the bush,' mum answered angrily.

'What hoof?' dad stared at her.

'Mummy hoof,' my mother said briefly. 'Where is it?' she glared at me.

'I don't know,' I repeated for the hundredth time.

Mum looked at me attentively. 'I think you just haven't found it yet,' she started to examine the trash on the floor.

'Can anyone explain what a hoof you're talking about?' dad asked impatiently.

'It's a dried hoof,' I said.

'On the chain,' mum added.

Dad ran his fingers through his hair.

'The dried hoof on the chain?' he repeated.

'The chain was broken,' I added some information.

'Um…Whose was that hoof?

'I guess it was goat's,' I said.

'Nicholas, did you get into trouble again?' dad asked firmly.

'No,' I shook my head.

'Okay… And where's the goat whose hoof you'd brought here?' he gazed at me.

'It's dead probably,' I shrugged.

Dad scrambled to his feet, but trod on the potato's peel and collapsed onto the floor again.

'Toula,' he glanced at my mother pitifully. 'I'm starting to think that Nick isn't the only one who's going crazy. You and I are going insane as well.'

'I don't know about you, but I'm okay,' mum objected, still pacing around the kitchen and poking the trash with the toe of her slipper, trying to find the hoof.

'And that's why you're looking for the dead goat's hoof in the trash in the middle of the night?' dad burst into nervous laughter.

'I don't want him to find it,' she pointed at me.

'Let's see,' dad said slowly. 'A goat had died long ago and now his hoof disappeared from our bin. I just wonder why I have to investigate the destiny of the rotten hoof in the dead of the night?' he suddenly got angry.

'It wasn't rotten, it was dried,' I said, trying hard not to laugh.

'Even smoked, if you like, I don't care!' dad stood up. 'I'm not going to discuss it right now.'

'You don't have to,' my mother said, looking at me with suspicion. 'The hoof's gone.'

'How could the hoof have gone?' growled dad.

'I don't know how,' mum shrugged, 'but it isn't here.'

'And who a hell, leaped down on me when I entered the kitchen?' dad asked angrily.

'I think it was a cat,' I said. 'A black cat.'

'Okay, I can see the picture,' mum sighed. 'Someone forgot to close the window before goin to sleep and a cat took this opportunity for…'

'I closed the window…as far as I remember,' dad wrinkled his forehead.

'Oh, sure,' mum muttered. She took a mop from the closet and swept the trash back into the bin. Then she and dad went to bed.

I also went to my room and crawled into bed. But I couldn't fall asleep. In the end I slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed, then came up to the desk and opened the drawer. The hoof was there. I returned to bed, still thinking of what had happened. Mum and dad thought that a cat had leaped into the kitchen through the open window and scattered the trash on the floor. They thought the cat decided that the hoof was a delicious thing and took it away.

But I knew exactly that the window was closed. I personally shut it when I went to drink a glass of juice before going to sleep. I don't believe in ghosts and witches and all that stuff, but then, in the darkness this situation seemed quite scary.

###

The next day we gathered in the Black Cat Café. I brought the amulet along with me. Just in case. I told the others what'd happened last night.

'The only thing we can be sure of is that someone intruded into the house,' I finished the story.

'With a cat?' grinned Tom.

'I guess so,' I shrugged.

'I've never heard of robbers, who intrude into a house with their cats?' Sunny shook her head thoughtfully.

'And who rummaged in the rubbish bin instead of stealing something valuable,' added Liz.

I sipped my coffee, thinking hard. All of a sudden my mind filled with pictures. Miss Tamon's worried face. Mum, throwing the hoof into the garbage been. Marina, cautiously coming out of my room.

'I know…' I thudded my cup down on the table. 'It was the rubbish bin and its content what the intruder wanted.'

'Are you mad?' Tom looked at me, his eyes were popping.

I told them about a new friend of my mother's, about the anxious expression on her face, when she saw the amulet. I told them that she was the only one person, except mum and me, who knew that the hoof had been thrown into the rubbish bin.

'Do you think this Ms Tamon set the witch fire?' Richelle widened her big blue eyes.

'I don't know about the fire, but I'm sure that she, at least, knows something about the amulet,' I said.

'Are you saying that she came to your house at night to take the dried hoof away from the rubbish bin?' Sunny shook her head with doubt. 'Nick, it's ridiculous!'

'If it's a really magic amulet she easily could do that,' Elmo supported me. 'We don't know what this amulet can do.'

We sat in silence for a while, sipping our drinks and nibbling cakes.

'Nick said that the cat was black,' finally Tom broke the silence.

'Very black,' I nodded.

'Yeah…' Tom drawled. 'Listen, it's so weird.'

'I think,' Richelle said seriously, 'it wasn't a plain cat, it was a werebeast, if you ask me.'

'_What_?' I stared at her. 'Do you mean that when I almost caught Ms Tamon red-handed in the kitchen she turned into the black cat?'

'Nick, the woman, who intrudes into someone's house to take away the dried hoof, must be a witch or something like that,' Richelle shrugged. 'So, I'm not surprised that she turned into the cat.'

'Richelle, you're dreaming,' Sunny snapped. 'It's ridiculous.'

'Maybe you're right and we're just dreaming,' Liz glanced at her. 'But we have to face the facts. Someone intruded into Nick's house. And obviously he or she wanted to find the amulet.

'And someone set the witch fire near the old lake,' Richelle added.

'Nick, how long have you known this Marina Tamon?' Elmo asked.

'I don't know her well,' I explained. 'Mum met her a couple of months ago at a charity party. They've been spending together much time since then.'

'What do you know about her family?' Elmo went on enquiring.

'I know nothing about her family. She lives here alone as far as I know.'

'All witches live alone,' Richelle cut in, checking her perfect fingernails.

'Hey, listen,' Liz exclaimed. 'If it's Ms Tamon's amulet and she needs it back, she'll come again to take it.

I shivered. I completely didn't want her to come again. To be honest I just wanted to throw the amulet away and forget about it, but I couldn't tell the others that I was scared. I just couldn't.

If only I had known where this'd lead us I'd have thrown it away without thinking twice.

###

It was Wednesday. We arranged to go to pick up herbs again tomorrow after the Pen delivery and split up. Elmo had to go to the Pen, Sunny had her gym class, Tom and Liz promised their brothers to go for a walk together. Richelle didn't have anything to do, so she decided to go to the city and to spend the rest of the day there. I didn't feel like going home either, I knew that mum was out and I didn't want to stay there alone with this horrible hoof.

So I offered Richelle to go to the city together. I like to spend time with Richelle, she's so funny and beautiful. I often catch myself thinking about her. Anyway, she gave me a dazzling smile and took my offer.

We spent a wonderful day in the city. We walked along the streets, had lunch in the central park and played bowling. We were talking and laughing all the time, she made me forget my fears. Besides, on crowded streets I felt safe and managed to forget about the amulet.

By the time I got home I'd completely forgotten about the witchcraft. After delicious dinner I went to my room and spend the rest of the night playing computer games.

Before going to bed I went downstairs to the kitchen to drink something. I poured myself an orange juice from the fridge and stood there, staring through the window, sipping slowly the juice and thinking about the time I'd spent with Richelle. Suddenly I noticed a movement on the road near the trash cans. I looked closely at it. Someone was rummaging in the trash can, but in the dark it was impossible to see who this black figure was. Then the black figure turned its face, looking around cautiously and I saw the familiar face in the light spot. It was Ms Tamon's face.

It's Tamon! Of course! She hadn't found the amulet in our bin, so she decided to look for it in the street trash can, the idea rushed into my head.

I opened the back door and ran towards the road as quiet as I could. But when I reached the road, it was empty. Well, almost empty – the trash was scattered everywhere. I looked around in surprise, but didn't see a running figure or something like that. Suddenly I felt a movement in the grass behind me. A black cat came onto the road, glanced at me and disappeared in the dark bushes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. Bad dream**

I ran into the kitchen and dialed Elmo's number.

'She rummaged in the trash can on the street,' I yelled as soon as he answered.

'What?' he asked irritably. 'Look Nick, I spent the whole day at the Pen office and now I'd like…'

'Elmo, listen to me,' I interrupted him. 'Tamon has just dug in the garbage bin on the street. I saw her!'

'Really?' muttered Elmo.

'Yeah, I saw her through the window. I ran to see, but there was nobody, except the black cat.'

'The black cat? Again?' Elmo said thoughtfully. 'It's interesting, but Nick, it's too late now. Let's discuss it tomorrow.'

I sighed, but said goodbye and went to bed.

###

I woke up. It was very dark in the room. Oh no, another sleepless night, I thought angrily. Maybe I have to do something with it. I wrapped in the blanket and turned over. But suddenly I felt a movement in the dark. I turned my head to see and froze. Marina Tamon was standing near my bed, holding a smoking bowl in her hands. A wave of horror swept over me. I opened my mouth to shout, but my voice stuck in my throat. Ms Tamon smiled at me.

'I'm not going to hurt you,' she said. 'Just tell me where did you hide the amulet?

'I… I don't understand what you're talking about,' I whispered.

The smoke, rising from the bowl became thicker. I could feel a weird sweet smell, hanging in the room. All of a sudden, Marina started growing up. She became bigger and bigger and I became smaller and smaller.

'Tell me where it is! Tell me! Tell me!'

Her voice was raucous and echoing around the room.

'Where is it? Where is it?' her horrible, huge face hung over me.

'In the drawer,' I heard my own whisper.

Marina smiled with satisfaction. Then everything whirled around and we both flew somewhere down.

###

I opened my eyes. I felt sick. I ran to the bathroom and was awful, violently sick. When mum and dad looked in, I was sitting on the floor with my forehead against the cold wall. Then I threw up again. When it finished, mum got me to bed. I muttered something about the Pen delivery and fell asleep.

I napped and woke, napped and woke, a hundred times during that day. And every time I woke up, I had to run to the bathroom to throw up.

###

I opened my eyes. It was five thirty. I shook my head, I couldn't believe I'd slept so long. But at least, I didn't feel sick any more. Mum came into the room, smiling at me and gave me a cup of herbal tea. I took it gratefully. Mum told me that she'd informed the others that I fell sick and they called in to visit me while I was asleep. They delivered the papers and went out of town to pick up herbs.

I took a shower, pulled on some clothes and lay on the bed again. I felt better now, though my head was still spinning. Suddenly I remembered something. I got up and came up to the desk and opened the drawer with a jerk. I don't know what I expected to see, but the amulet was there. I took it and crawled into bed again. I put the amulet under the pillow and curled up into a ball, wrapping tightly into my quilt. I didn't feel like thinking or doing anything, I wanted just to lie staring blankly into space.

###

The gang came to visit me that night.

'Nicko feels better,' my mother was shattering as she entered the room with the others. 'Thanks to Marina! She's so nice!'

'Marina?' the others stared at her.

'She's a friend of mine,' mum explained. 'When she came here this morning, I told her that Nicko had food poisoning and she immediately ran home and returned with the herbal tisane, which helped Nick to get well.

'The herbal tisane? What is it?' Liz asked.

'Oh, this is one of recipes of Marina's grandmother,' mum explained. 'Her grandmother is a herbalist. But, I'd better leave you, kids.' She smiled happily and left the room.

'How are you?' asked Liz, sitting down on my bed.

'Fine,' I said sluggishly, keeping my eyes on the ceiling. 'I don't feel sick anymore.'

'What about Marina's herbal tisane?' Elmo demanded.

'I don't know,' I shrugged indifferently. I didn't feel like speaking. 'I don't remember any tisane.'

'Nick…are you sure you feel well?' Liz glanced at me anxiously.

'I told, you I'm fine,' I said with irritation. They exchanged glances.

'Tell us what happened then,' Tom demanded.

'Your mother told us that you had food poisoning,' Richelle added.

'Yes…No…' I couldn't find proper words. 'That is… not exactly.'

'_What_?' all of them stared at me.

I told them what had happened last night. That Ms Tamon had come to me and asked about the amulet. But they didn't seem to believe me.

'Nick, it was just a bad dream,' Liz patted my arm mildly. 'I'm not surprised that after all of these stories about witches you had nightmares.'

'No, it wasn't just a dream,' I shook my head. 'It was real. And I don't want this amulet to be here. Please, take it away from me.'

They looked at each other again. I could see that they didn't believe me.

'Liz, do you believe me?' I put my hand on her arm. I always laughed at her soft heart, but at that moment I needed it.

'Um…yeah,' she said slowly, avoiding looking at me. 'Though…I think…'

'Look, Nick' Elmo interrupted. 'We'll take the amulet away, don't worry. Okay?'

I nodded and pulled out the hoof from under my pillow and gave it to him with a great relief.

'I won't take it,' Richelle said instantly.

'And neither will I,' Tom nodded.

'We'll discuss it in other place,' Sunny said calmly. 'I still think that it was just a nightmare, but Nick'd better not know who will take the amulet…just in case.'

'Yeah, you're right,' Elmo agreed.

At that moment the door threw open and mum appeared in the doorway, holding the black cat in her hands. The same black cat. We all stared at her.

'Oh, look at this nice cat!' mum sang happily.

'Why have you brought it?' I asked in horror.

'It's so nice and clear cat,' mum smiled, stroking cat's head.

'But…but you never liked cats!' I couldn't understand.

'Yeah, you're right,' mum agreed. 'But this one I like.

The cat in her hands looked at us with triumph.

'But if this cat is homeless, it can be infected,' Liz frowned.

'Oh, such clear cat can't be infected,' mum sang.

'Yes it can,' Richelle muttered. 'One old lady told me that her cat infected…'

'Mum, give me it please,' I felt an inexplicable desire to stroke this cat.

My mother did what I asked with pleasure. But hardly had I touched the cat, I threw it away in fright and shouted, 'shoo! Get out!'

The cat jumped into the open window, mewing wildly. I was trembling all over with an inexplicable fear.

'Nicko, what's wrong with you?' mum patted my hair carefully.

'I…this cat tried to bite me,' I mumbled.

'You're just tired,' mum touched my forehead. 'You should have a little rest. I think tomorrow you'll feel well. But now I want you to get some sleep. So, say goodbye to your friends.' She began moving the others to the door.

'Ma, don't!' I yelled. 'Why? I'm not tired. Let them stay. Please!'

'No, I want you to have a rest,' mum didn't listen to me. 'You got so nervous. I'll bring you Marina's herbal tea.'

'Don't drink this tea,' Elmo managed to whisper in my ear. I nodded. They said goodbye and went away.

###

A few minutes later, mum brought me a cup of herbal tea. I remembered that I'd drunk the same tea in the afternoon. I convinced mum that I'd drink it later and when she left me alone I got up and poured out the tisane into the flower pot. Then I crawled back into bed and fell asleep within thirty seconds, relieved that the horrible amulet wasn't with me. I didn't want even to hear about this amulet again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4. Invasion**

The next day I felt much better. I had breakfast and went to meet the others in the Pen office. Sunny, Liz and Elmo were there when I arrived.

'Did Marina visit anyone last night?' I smiled at them.

'No,' grinned Elmo. 'The amulet is in my desk. Everything's all right. She'll never find it here.'

We sat in the back room, drinking coffee and nibbling cookies and chattering. In about half an hour we heard voices from the front room. I thought that Richelle and Tom finally arrived, but the door threw open and Zim and Marina Tamon came in. I looked at Elmo. He stared at them, his jaw dropped. Liz and Sunny also were staring at Marina. I felt this inexplicable fear again. Ms Tamon smiled at me.

'Hello, Nick!' she sang. 'How are you feeling?'

'I'm fine, thanks,' I babbled.

'Elmo, let me introduce Marina Tamon to you,' Zim said. 'She's going to write articles for the Pen about ancient art'.

'Oh…how do you do, Ms Tamon?' gulped Elmo.

'And you'll have to have dinner alone today,' Zim went on, smiling shyly. 'I'm going to the restaurant with Marina tonight.

'_What_?' Elmo's jaw dropped again.

'Elmo, dear, come on,' Marina took Zim's arm, smiling slightly. She turned to me. 'I heard about your food poisoning Nick. Be careful. Curiosity killed the cat, remember?'

With a sly wink she turned to the door and they left the room, hand in hand.

###

We sat in silence for a while.

'I told you,' I said smugly. 'Now she's here and as I can see, she has your father wrapped around her little finger.'

Elmo glanced at me gloomily.

'He's right, Elmo,' Sunny said calmly. 'Zim looks at her like a cat looks at the sour cream. He'll do anything for her.'

Tom and Richelle finally arrived. We told them about Zim and Marina. Richelle clapped her hand to her mouth. 'I'm scared,' she whispered. 'Listen, let's just give her back this damn amulet and forget about it.'

I slowly nodded. She was right.

'No!' exclaimed Elmo. 'It's personal now. I can't let her deceive my father.'

'Elmo's right,' Liz said firmly. 'She can be a member of a sect. What if she's going to do something awful? To kill someone, for example? We've got to do something.'

'We should go to the police,' suggested Richelle.

'And what will you tell them?' I sneered. 'That a witch appeared in Raven Hill? That she sets a weird fire near the old lake, intrudes into houses to rummage in the rubbish, comes at night in dreams and dates with Elmo's father? Cops will laugh like mad when they hear it!'

'I think we should work it out on our own,' Tom said.

I glanced at him loweringly. All what I wanted was just to forget about it. I completely didn't want to tangle with this woman. The others didn't understand. They didn't know a thing I went through.

'I think she'll try to get into Elmo's house soon,' Richelle pointed out. 'Probably she knows that the amulet is there, that's why she made friends with Zim. She wants this thing back. She'd kill for her hoof.'

'In the literal sense of the word,' I mumbled gravely.

'Richelle's right,' Elmo nodded vigorously. 'Marina probably knows that the amulet is in my place and she'll try to steal it. But what if we give her such opportunity?'

'Right!' Liz exclaimed. 'We'll give her the opportunity to get into Elmo's house and see if she uses this chance.'

'Dad is going to interview an old lady in Craigend,' Elmo began planning. 'Marina probably will go home. So, as soon as dad leave for Craigend I'll go to Marina's place, give her the keys and say that she can wait for dad in our house. And we'll be there in the bushes keeping watch.'

I looked at Richelle and she rolled her eyes in reply. 'It's childish,' I snorted. But the others took no notice for once. They were going to play spies.

###

At 3 o'clock Zim left the Pen office.

'Let's go,' said Elmo.

By this time I had already called mum and asked Ms Tamon's address. We left the Pen office and went to her place. The house where she lived was small and pretty shabby.

'What a depressing place!' Liz pointed out, looking at the overgrown garden. 'It's very appropriate house for the witch.'

'Shh,' Elmo jerked his head at the opened windows.

'Hey, look at that,' Tom whispered, pointing at the tall tree. We looked up. The same black cat was sitting on a branch and glaring at us. For a minute we just stood there, staring at her.

'Okay, I'm going,' Elmo said at last.

'I'm with you,' I followed him. I don't know why, but I didn't want to leave him alone with Marina.

'We'll give her the keys and say that we're going to the cinema in the city,' Elmo instructed me on the way. 'We should convince her that we'll be away.'

He pressed the doorbell. Ms Tamon opened the door quickly, as though she'd been waiting for us behind the door.

'Hello, Ms Tamon! Dad asked me to say that you can wait for him in our house. The problem is that he left his keys at home and we're going to the cinema in the city soon. That's why I decided to give you his keys,' Elmo rattled off the conned phrase and stretched out his hand with keys.

'Um… Okay,' the woman said in surprise.

'Elmo, we'd better go. We don't want to miss the film, do we?' I tugged at his hand.

Marina nodded and took a step back into the house, but Elmo called her again. 'Your cat is so beautiful!' he exclaimed.

'My cat?' Marina looked back in surprise.

'Yeah,' Elmo nodded. 'The black, graceful cat. Isn't it yours?'

'Oh, yeah.' she smiled. 'This cat came a month ago and obviously decided to live here. But I really don't mind. I named her Blackie.'

'Can we see her again?' I asked quickly. Marina looked at me suspiciously. 'I mean…I think this cat seems to be pedigreed. Her previous owner must be looking for her. We can put an ad in the Pen.'

'An ad?' repeated Ms Tamon.

'Yeah,' Elmo nodded. 'The ad about the missing cat. We even can take a photo of her.'

'No,' the woman said firmly. 'I like this cat and want her to stay with me.'

'Oh, I see,' I changed my tactics immediately. 'Can we just see her again, please?'

'I'll try to find her,' she went into the house and disappeared from our sight.

'I bet she won't bring the cat,' Elmo whispered in my ear.

I shrugged. We heard Marina calling Blackie somewhere in the backyard. After a few minutes she appeared in the doorway again. Without the cat, of course.

'I'm sorry,' she smiled at us guiltily. 'Blackie doesn't want to come.'

'Okay,' Elmo sighed. 'It doesn't matter. We'll see her next time. Goodbye.'

'Goodbye,' said Marina and shut the door in front of our noses.

We ran towards the road where the others were waiting and strode to Elmo's place.

###

'What a stupid idea to sit in the bushes and watch her,' Richelle grumbled when we came up to the house and started searching for a hiding-place.

'Richelle, no one makes you do it,' snapped Liz. 'You can go home if you want.'

Richelle pouted and turned away from her, but kept staying where she was. She couldn't bear to be left behind.

'Elmo, where is the amulet?' asked Sunny. 'We'd better take it away from the house in case she'll come.'

Without a word Elmo ducked into the house and returned with the hoof a minute later.

'Nick you'd better take it…' he began.

'No,' I interrupted firmly.

'But Nick,' Liz patted my arm carefully. 'Marina came to your place and didn't find the amulet. She's unlikely to come again.'

'No,' I repeated. 'No way.'

'Well, I don't take it either,' Richelle said gloomily.

'Okay,' Sunny sighed. 'I'll take it.'

She grabbed the amulet and put it into her pocket. After that we began to search for a place where we could hide. Fortunately, there were a few quite thick bushes near Elmo's house. We decided to split up into two groups and watch the front and the back doors simultaneously.

Richelle Tom and I were supposed to watch the front door. We hid ourselves in a clump of lilac bushes, so we could see the door and nobody could see us from the road.

Then we started waiting.

###

We waited on and on. In half an hour I felt a surge of annoyance rising in my chest. I can never bear to wait. Besides, on my right Richelle started complaining that she was boring. And on my left Tom began to fidget and itch. He mumbled that branches pricked him. Finally I realized that I couldn't stand it anymore.

'Stop it, you both,' I hissed. 'If Marina comes here she'll notice us straightaway.'

Tom froze for a couple of minutes, but soon began stirring again.

'Where is she?' he muttered. 'I hate sitting around here. It's just a waste of time. The life is too short to spend it like that…'

'Oh, sure,' I whispered between gritted teeth. 'That's why you live so passionately and fully and never waste your time. Shut up now.'

'Drop dead, Kontellis!' Tom hissed angrily.

'Stop arguing, you two!' Richelle whispered. 'Do you want Marina to notice us?'

Tom gave me a dirty look and turned away from me.

We went on waiting. In half an hour Richelle touched my hand. I looked at her. She was pointing at the street. Miss Tamon was coming towards Elmo's house looking around all the time. She moved without any sound, as if she was flying above the ground. I looked at Tom and pressed my finger to my lips. Three of us held our breath and didn't move.

Walking past the bushes, where we were hiding, Marina stopped abruptly. She looked around and sniffed. My heart was beating like a drum. Marina stood there for a moment, then took one more step towards us and stopped again. I started to think up reasons why we were hiding there in case she found us. But my brains didn't work properly. I couldn't invent a good excuse, except that we were playing hide-and-seek. Although I realized that it was a very stupid pastime for seventeen-years-old kids. Meanwhile, Ms Tamon came closer to our bush and began to look around again with a faint smile on her face. We didn't dare even breathe. She was so close that she could touch Tom's head if she stretched out her arm.

Come on! Off you go! I started to send her mental orders. You'd better go. If you find us here we'll have to say about you to Elmo's father. You don't want it, do you?

Marina gave a sort of snort and went towards the porch. I wiped sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. The woman hesitated at the door and then pressed the doorbell. In a minute she rang again. Only after that she pulled out the keys from her pocket, unlocked the door and slipped inside. Everything was done almost soundless.

'Perfectly!' Tom admired.

'Yeah, Zim found a good girlfriend,' I sneered. 'Okay, Tom, you go to the others. Tell them to come here.'

Tom disappeared in the bushes and returned with the others a minute later.

'Is she still inside?' Elmo pointed at the door.

'Yes,' I nodded.

'Did she unlock the door with the keys?' asked Liz.

'No,' I jeered. 'She went through the wall.'

'Don't play the fool, Nick. It's a serious matter,' Liz glared at me.

'Hey, what if she's just a thief?' Sunny looked worried. 'We gave her the keys and she'd take this opportunity to steal something valuable.'

'I doubt,' Elmo objected. 'She must realize that she'll be the main suspect.'

'I hope she won't be angry with us,' Richelle widened her big blue eyes. 'Imagine what she can do if she's a real witch.'

We sat in silence for a while. Nobody felt like speaking. Then Tom glanced at his watch.

'She doesn't hurry,' he muttered.

'The hoof is pretty small,' practical Sunny whispered. 'It's quite difficult to find such small thing in the house.'

Silence again. I glanced at my watch. Another hour went by. Marina was still in the house.

'How long do we have to sit here?' Tom grumbled.

'Shh,' hissed Elmo.

We heard sounds of footsteps and saw Zim coming towards the house.

'Dad came back earlier,' Elmo said in surprise. 'Marina will be caught red-handed.'

'Probably she'll try to escape through the back door,' Sunny whispered. 'Liz, Elmo, come on!'

Three of them rushed towards the backyard. I looked around and saw Marina's black cat. Blackie was slowly wandering along the house wall. She leaped on a branch of the gum tree and stared at Zim, who was looking for the keys in his bag. Hardly had Zim stepped into the house when Blackie jumped onto the road and disappeared in the bushes.

###

We stared at each other.

'Do you think it's a coincidence that the cat was here?' Tom sounded quite startled.

'Of course not,' Richelle whispered.

The others joined us.

'Did she walk past you?' asked Sunny.

'No, she didn't,' Tom shook his head. 'Did she walk past _you_?'

'No, she didn't,' Liz widened her eyes.

'Perhaps she managed to leave the house through the back door while we'd been here,' Sunny shrugged.

'Sunny Chan! You're hopeless!' Liz yelled. 'Why can't you just believe that Marina is a supernatural? Don't you think it's very _weird_ that Blackie appeared here when Zim unexpectedly came home? You have to admit it, Sunny!'

'Guys, I think…' Tom shivered as if he was cold. 'Listen, let's give her back this hoof. We don't need it, do we? Probably this amulet is important for her…'

'What a brave guy you are, Tom!' I sneered.

'If I'm not mistaken, you're afraid even to keep this hoof in your house,' he snapped back.

'Let's go out of here,' Sunny said calmly.

We went onto the street, said goodbye and split up. While I was trudging home I had a funny feeling that someone was watching me. I kept looking over my shoulder as I walked along, but never succeeded in spitting anyone. Opening the door of my house I turned back again and saw two orange cat's eyes. In a moment the black cat disappeared into the shade under the trees.

'Can she be spying us?' a thought crossed my mind. I quickly came inside and locked the door properly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. Bad news**

During dinner I was thinking if I should tell my parents about Marina and all this stuff. I glanced at them. Dad was talking to mum about his work and she nodded with interest.

No, I thought. Marina is a friend of mum's. If I say that she's a witch, mum'll be hurt or, even worse, she might suspect something.

The phone rang. Mum picked up the receiver. It was Elmo for me.

_What now_? I didn't feel like speaking with Elmo at all. I was sure that he wasn't going to tell me any good news.

'She ransacked the drawer where the amulet was,' Elmo burst out as I answered.

'What? Are you sure?'

'Absolutely,' Elmo said. 'I'd used an old simple detective method before I left home.'

'What method?' I asked impatiently, watching out of the corner of my eye that dad was looking at me disapprovingly. He didn't like being disturbed from his meal.

'I stuck a long hair on the drawer,' Elmo went on.

'Where did you get a long hair?' I interrupted in surprise. A picture of Elmo's red-curled head floated into my mind.

'From Richelle's head,' he grinned. 'Anyway, I stuck a hair and now it isn't here.'

'Maybe it fell down,' I suggested. Mum glanced at me anxiously. I turned my back on them. I didn't want them to see my excitement.

'Maybe. But I put another hair on my notebooks in the drawer, just in case,' Elmo said. 'The notebooks are moved aside. Pencils are mixed, though I put the red pencil across the blue one. It's obvious that she rummaged here.'

'What about other drawers?' I asked quietly. I heard Elmo opening the drawers.

'I guess they'd been ransacked as well, but I'm not sure, everything is in mess here. But I can assure you, she ransacked the drawer where the amulet was.'

'What about other places?' I asked. I heard a click when Elmo put the receiver down on the table. My heart thudded loudly.

'She ransacked the bookshelves,' finally I heard Elmo's voice. 'There are a lot of prints in the dust, though I didn't touch these books. Now I'm absolutely sure that it was Marina who got into your house.'

'I told you!' I said smugly. 'And it seems to me that she's going to continue her searching until she finds this thing.'

I glanced absently through the open window and blinked. I wasn't sure that I really saw it… I came up to the window. Right. The black cat with orange eyes was lying on the ground and staring at me lazily.

'She's here,' I said very quietly.

'Who?'

'Blackie.'

The cat blinked, stood up and slowly wandered away with her tail high.

'Is she kidding us?' I banged my fist on the window-ledge. Only then I remembered that I wasn't alone in the room and slowly turned round. Mum and dad looked at me surprised and worried. I quickly said goodbye to Elmo, and trying to look casual returned at the table.

'Is something wrong?' dad asked.

'Oh, no,' I smiled at them. 'It's just… childish gossips.'

I concentrated on my dinner. But in a couple of minutes the phone rang again. It was Sunny.

'Marina has just left my house,' she said as soon as I answered.

'What? How? Why?' I couldn't put my thoughts into words.

'As it turned out my mum knows her,' Sunny replied. 'Marina came to mum to complain of her headache several days ago.'

'So?' I asked, avoiding dad's furious glance. 'What did she want?'

'Well, nothing special,' Sunny snorted. 'As she put it, she just went by and called in to chat with mum.'

'Sunny, she could have looked for the way to get into your house. I think you'd better pass the thing to Liz.'

'Do you think she…'

'I think that she's going to search your house to find this damn thing.'

'Okay,' she sighed. 'I'll check on the keys and windows and doors. Don't worry.'

We said goodbye to each other and I returned at the table again. Dad was looking at me disapprovingly.

'Is everything okay, Nicholas?' he asked strictly.

'Yeah,' I nodded, giving him an innocent smile. 'As I told you, it's just gossips, nothing serious.'

I decided I wouldn't tell them this stuff about witches yet. Mum might get scared and dad wouldn't believe me. He believes in witches and ghosts no more than I do. And he might say again that it's time me stopped playing around with the Teen Power Inc and began to work with him in the office. Or they might think that we got into trouble again and make me work with him till the end of the holiday instead of spending my time with the gang.

###

That night I spent watching TV with mum and dad, telling them school gossips and trying to forget about Ms Tamon. About midnight I went to my room, got undressed and switched the light off, but instead of going to bed I came up to the window, leaned on the window-ledge and stared out into the night blankly. I was concerned about mum. Ms Tamon had an adverse influence on her. I was afraid that Marina might convince mum to join her sect or something.

I shook my head. Don't be stupid, Kontellis, I said to myself. Mum isn't a fool, she'll never agree to do such stupid things.

I was about to crawl into bed when I noticed something strange out the corner of my eye. At first I couldn't understand what attracted my attention. But then my eyes widened in horror. The flower! I remembered that I'd poured out Marina's tisane into the flower pot last night. Well, the flower was completely withered.

###

The next morning we arranged to meet in the Glen. When I arrived there was only Tom. He sat under the big tree, drawing something in his sketchbook. The others were late.

'How are you doing, Nickers?' his lips twisted in an annoying grin. 'Did a witch or mermaid or dwarf or someone else visit you last night?'

I rolled my eyes in reply and sat down on the grass, leaning back the gum tree.

'The others are late,' I said. 'I wonder…' I broke off, because at that moment I heard running feet and soon Elmo stormed onto the clearing.

'I…I… have seen…Galina… just now,' he panted.

'_What_?' Tom and I gazed at him.

'Galina!' Elmo burst out. 'I was walking! Then I saw her! Then I followed her!'

'Sit down!' I ordered firmly. 'Tell us clearly what happened. What did you see?'

'I'm telling you! I saw Galina! The witch!'

'_Where_?' Tom and I yelled together.

'Here!' Elmo shouted.

'In the Glen?' Tom enquired.

'No,' Elmo shook his head. 'In the park.'

'But what makes you think that it was Galina?' I scowled.

'Well…' Elmo hesitated, trying to find proper words. 'She looked exactly like my grandma'd described: small, as if she withered. Her face is covered with wrinkles. And her eyes…her eyes…'

'What's wrong with her eyes?' I exclaimed impatiently.

'There is something devilish in her eyes,' Elmo explained. 'I just looked at her and I felt as if an icy hand clutched my heart. I decided to follow her. She trudged to Marina's house and rang the doorbell. Marina opened the door and they both went inside.'

'Rubbish!' Tom jeered. 'It was just an old lady. I'm absolutely sure that she's Marina's grandmother or aunt or something.'

'Well, you are free to think what you want to,' Elmo pretended to be indifferent. 'But I reckon that the dead witch arrived to the alive one.'

'Hello!' three girls appeared on the clearing.

'About time,' I muttered.

'We have bad news,' Sunny glanced at me and spread her arms. 'The hoof disappeared.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6. Mrs Ramsey**

'_What_?' I exploded.

'I hid it under my pillow before my morning run,' Sunny explained. 'When I returned, Penny said that a beautiful black cat'd gotten in through the open window. I ran upstairs, but it was too late. The amulet wasn't there.'

Tom and Elmo's faces fell in disappointment. As for me, I felt only irritation. All these things I had to go through, turned out a waste of time because Sunny hadn't hidden the amulet properly.

'Well, I'm glad that the amulet disappeared,' Richelle shrugged. 'Really, it's good for us. Now we can forget about it.'

'You're right,' Liz nodded slowly. 'It's dangerous. The amulet could belong to a religious sect.'

'Maybe we should tell the police about it?' Tom suggested.

'No, it's ridiculous! Don't you understand it?' I shook my head. 'We have nothing except tales about witches.'

'Elmo, why did your grandma think that Galina was the witch?' Sunny looked at him doubtfully.

'Grandma told me that Galina could curse people or vice versa, she could protect people from evil eye, or she could cure people and at the same time, injured them, using her tisanes and spells,' Elmo responded.

'In other words she was a very useful person,' I sneered.

'She was useful for one person and harmful for another,' Elmo glanced at me seriously. 'My grandma used to say that if someone'd hurt Galina, she could have killed her offender and ruined his family as well. People fell ill, pined away and finally died.'

'Yeah, she was evil,' Sunny pointed out.

'Of course she was! Have you ever seen a kind witch, Sunny?' Tom laughed. 'I guess the witch is the witch. All of them are devilish.'

'Listen to Tom, he knows!' I jeered. 'From the Grimms' fairy tales. All witches are very scary there.'

At that moment I remembered the withered flower, and my grin disappeared.

'Well, there's one thing we can be sure of,' I sighed. 'Marina isn't a fairy godmother.'

I told them about the withered flower in my room.

'Good cure for a sick kid,' Liz shook her head, her eyes wide.

'Yeah,' Sunny frowned. 'You drank that tisane, didn't you, Nick?

'Once, in the morning,' I sighed. 'And it was enough for me to be out of my head all that day long.'

'Yeah, we noticed it,' Elmo nodded. 'Fortunately you didn't drink it again. Who knows what this herbal tea could do with you.'

'Tell you what, we should check by the calendar when the moon will be full again,' Richelle put in.

'No problem,' Tom grinned. 'Brian has such calendar in his workroom. I'll check.'

'I've got another idea,' I drawled. 'Elmo, do you know if Galina had any children?'

'No, I don't,' Elmo shrugged.

'Can you work it out?'

'I'll try,' he promised. 'Why?'

'I just thought that Marina might be Galina's granddaughter or great-granddaughter.'

'Right!' Elmo jumped up. 'It explains why dead Galina has come here.'

We sat in silence for a while. None of us felt like speaking. There were so much usual sounds around - birds' singing, whisper of leaves, faint traffic noise from the street. It was hard to believe in this witchcraft business. I've never believed in such stuff. If someone had told me a couple of weeks ago that I'd be speaking about witches seriously, I'd have burst out laughing. But I _was_ _speaking_ about witches. And I was scared. Really scared. The thought that Marina might be a real witch or sectarian made me shiver. But on the other hand, it was very interesting to find out if the magic and sorcerers really exist in this world.

'I reckon that if we want to solve this mystery, we should learn something about witches as a phenomenon,' finally Sunny broke the silence.

Sunny's the most reasonable member of the team. It's difficult to astonish her. And like me, she completely doesn't believe in voodoo, sorcerers and other stuff like that. Everyone knows it. But then in the Glen, even she seemed scared.

'No problem,' Liz shrugged. 'Plenty of different books about magic have been published lately.'

'Shall we read about it?' Sunny suggested. 'We can find out something useful.'

'Yeah,' Elmo agreed. 'But where will we get such books? My dad doesn't read this type of literature. And I'm sure your parents prefer other books either.'

'You forgot about libraries,' Tom reminded him.

'I think in the library we'll find nothing but myths,' Elmo shook his head.

'Hey!' I exclaimed. 'Do you remember that slightly deaf woman? We cleaned up her backyard a couple of months ago? Do you remember what she told about her first husband, scientist in occult sphere?

'No, I don't,' Tom shook his head. 'Maybe I was away that day.'

'I remember!' Liz nodded vigorously. 'Nick's right. She told us that he'd written several books about his investigations in occult sphere. Maybe in these books we'll find something about witches.'

'Let's go then!' Sunny cheered up.

We stood up, collecting our stuff.

'I don't like her,' Richelle sighed. 'She's weird. And crazy.'

'She isn't crazy, Richelle!' Liz snorted.

'She's just a little coo-coo, that's all,' Tom sneered.

'And her housekeeper is just a monster, that's all,' I added.

The others laughed. Mrs Natalie Ramsey was a notable person in Raven Hill, maybe as notable as Mrs Drisk-Haskell. But unlike Drisk-Haskell, Mrs Ramsey, was a conversable, kind, slightly deaf old lady. We worked on her back garden a couple of months ago. We planted flowers, weeded and did such sort of things. Nothing interesting. But she often invited us to have a cup of tea with her and told us stories from her life.

From her stories we learnt that she, eighteen-year-old girl, a daughter of rich and respectful man's, married Apollon Parnass, an old occult philosopher, who had published his scientific writings in the early 20th century.

But the newly-weds' happiness didn't last long. The old philosopher joined the majority in a year or two after their marriage. Mrs Ramsey would say that his death was "the greatest drama" in her entire life. Though at the same time, she would say that he often came from the underworld to visit her and gave useful advices. For example, as she said, it was Apollon who recommended her to remarry William Ramsey, the famous surgeon. Mr Ramsey, who'd died a few years ago, left a legacy of several bank accounts, the huge mansion and the big collection of expensive pictures and antiques.

###

'The main thing is borrow the Apollon's book,' Elmo instructed us as we walked along the path towards the big beautiful house.

Sunny pressed the doorbell. There were sounds of heavy footsteps behind the door and a sonorous bark.

'Who's it? Stay where you are!'

It was Tina Smith, Mrs Ramsey's housekeeper. She was a sniper when she was young (a successful sniper, as far as I knew). Now she's retired and throws herself into protection of her adored mistress' life and property. But Ms Smith seemed to suspect in evil intentions almost any of Mrs Ramsey's visitors. We'd been working in her garden for three weeks and could see how she dealt with distrustful visitors. Despite her age, the housekeeper-sniper was incredibly strong, deft and accurate at shooting. Her tactics wasn't good for visitors. Firstly she neutralized suspected persons and only after that she worked out what happened. That was why we knew that we must be courteous.

'Nicholas Kontellis, Elizabeth Free, Richelle Brinkley, Thomas Moysten, Elmo Zimmer, Sunny Chan,' we reported our names as clearly and loudly as possible.

The door opened a crack. Ms Smith glared at us, with a gas gun in her hand.

'Hello,' Liz began. 'We came to visit Mrs Ramsey. Could she receive us?'

'Come in. She's reading in the lounge room,' the housekeeper stepped aside to let us in.

We passed through the long hallway and found ourselves in the spacious lounge room full of ancient furniture and pictures.

'Oh, hello, my young friends!' Mrs Ramsey seemed glad to see us.

She put her book on the table and stood up from the big armchair. In spite of her age she was still tall and stately. Her grey hair was pulled back into an elegant twist at the back of her head. She was wearing a long, flowing green dress.

'Come in, my friends! Sit down!' she pointed at spare armchairs. 'And tell me your stories! In your age you must have a lot of stories and gossips.'

'We have,' Tom nodded. I nudged at him.

'Leave?' Mrs R. didn't hear properly. 'No darling, I'm too tired to leave my home now. Sorry! But where do you want me to go with you?'

'You misunderstood…' Tom started to explain.

'Shut up!' I hissed through the clenched teeth. 'Don't argue with her or we'll stick here till the end of the day.'

But Mrs R. heard Tom's words perfectly for once, and enquired angrily, 'what did I misunderstand, young man?'

'Oh, not you!' I exclaimed, turning my charm on and giving her a dazzling smile. 'Tom means that we left our business and came here to visit you.'

'Oh, it's so nice of you, young people! I'm very glad,' she beamed. 'Your name is Tom, right?' she nodded at him. 'Oh, Tom! I have so many memories connected with this name! A year before the memorable meeting with my unforgettable Apollon, I'd been engaged with a nice young man, named Thomas.'

'Here we go,' Tom murmured under his breath.

To his horror Mrs Ramsey heard him properly again. 'No, young man, we didn't go! At that time lovebirds weren't allowed to travel together. I was only seventeen years old then. We walked along the garden or went to theaters. Oh, my poor Thomas!' she dramatically flung her arms up. 'He suffered so much when I left him! But what could I do? I was dazzled with Apollon's shine and glory!'

I couldn't help snorting when the image of an old man with long, grey beard, who'd dazzled the young girl by his glory, floated into my mind. Liz dug me in the ribs with her elbow.

'What happened with Thomas after that?' she asked eagerly. Sob stories always attracted her.

'Oh, dear!' the old lady exclaimed tragically. 'Poor Thomas met his death in a year after I'd left him! And my beloved Apollon hadn't been alive by that time either.'

'Mrs Ramsey!' Sunny put in quickly. 'Can we borrow one of Apollon's books? I'm sure they're thrilling!'

'Of course, dear!' the woman nodded solemnly. 'I'll be very glad! By the way, Apollon promised to come today. I'll tell him about you. He'll be touched, believe me. Choose the book you want to read. You may take any of them!'

All of us came up to the bookshelf where Apollon Parnass's big tomes were sitting.

'Thank you, Mrs Ram…' Liz's voice broke off, when she saw the nearly empty shelf.

'Mrs Ramsey,' Sunny said as clearly as possible. 'Most of Apollon's books are missing.'

'Oh, that's right, dear!' the old woman clapped her hand over her forehead. 'I've forgotten! I gave some of Apollon's books to Marina a few days ago.'

'Marina?' I felt my jaw dropping.

'Yes, Marina Tamon. She's a friend of mine,' she answered in surprise. 'Don't you know her, Nick? Marina told me a lot of good things about your mother. I thought they are friends. Oh, darling, Marina's so charming. And she's interested in mysticism. Imagine that my dear Apollon is her favorite writer! That was why I allowed her to borrow some of his books, which she hadn't read yet.'

'She hadn't read a lot, I'd say,' Tom mumbled, looking gloomily at the shelf.

'You're right, young man! Marina reads a lot,' the old woman didn't hear him properly. 'And she comes here every other day to share her impressions with me. It's a wonderful woman! I'm going to arrange for her a meeting with my dear Apollon.

'Madhouse,' Richelle murmured in my ear.

'And more than that, my dear friends, inspired by his books, Marina sculptured bust of Apollon in plaster,' Mrs R. went on. 'Let's go to the study and I'll show you. I reckon it's a masterpiece!'

She led us to her late husband's cabinet. There was a plaster bald head with a peaky beard on the table.

'Can you recognize him?' Mrs R. looked at us expectantly.

'Oh, sure, it's Don Quixote,' I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. Liz dug me in the ribs and made a face.

'It's just like my dear Apollon! Don't you see it, my young friends?' luckily the woman didn't hear my words.

'But we can't know …' I was about to say that none of us could have known Apollon, who'd died in the middle of the century. But Sunny poked me in the ribs again.

'No more smart remarks,' she hissed.

'Thank you, Mrs Ramsey, it's very interesting! But could we take one of his books?' Liz was saying loudly at the same moment.

'Haven't you taken it yet?' Mrs R. raised her eyebrows.

'No,' Elmo shook his head.

'Let's go back to the lounge room then,' the old woman left the room. We followed her.

In the lounge room we came up to the bookshelf and pulled out a book each. I looked at mine: "The witchcraft. Different kinds of witches and their customs".

Wow, I thought. It's exactly what we need!

'May we borrow this one?' I asked as clearly and politely as I could, turning to Mrs Ramsey.

'Well well, let me see,' she put on her glasses and took the book from my hands. 'Oh, what a good choice!' she exclaimed looking at the cover. 'My unforgettable Apollon had written this book in the middle of his life. At that time he studied the energy of hoodoo and charm. He visited a lot of shamans in New Zealand, collecting the information.

'Thank you very much!' Liz thanked her sincerely.

'But we have to go now,' I added quickly.

The others nodded vigorously. We say goodbye to the old woman and let ourselves out of the house.

###

'So, what do you think about it?' Liz demanded as we walked along the street.

'I've got the feeling that almost everyone in Raven Hill knows Marina Tamon,' Sunny said gravely.

'And all of them love her very much,' I drawled.

'That's because our suburb is a madhouse!' muttered Richelle. 'Strange events are always happening here.'

'Madhouse or not, it's very weird,' Elmo said thoughtfully. 'And we'd better be careful.'

We decided to forget about witchcraft for a while and go to the cinema that night. We arranged to meet in two hours at The Palace and went home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7. In the library**

When I arrived at The Palace Liz and Sunny were waiting at the door. After a couple of minutes Elmo joined us. His face was beaming with excitement.

'I've found out! She has! That is she had!' he burst out.

'What?' we stared at him.

'Galina had a daughter,' Elmo said clearly. 'Her name was Barbara. She left Raven Hill years ago.'

Right at that moment Tom and Richelle joined us. Tom also had news. According to Brian's calendar, the full moon will come the day after tomorrow.

'Right!' Liz yelled. 'Two witches are preparing the Sabbath. That's why dead Galina came from the hell!'

'Liz, do you hear yourself? It's ridiculous!' Sunny objected.

'Besides it might be Barbara, who came to Marina, not Galina,' I suggested.

'It might be,' Sunny agreed. 'Barbara must be about 80 years old now, so she can be alive.'

'Alive or not, she still could be a witch,' Tom put in gravely.

'However, she arrived here for the Sabbath,' Liz said firmly. 'And who knows, maybe Galina will join them during the Sabbath.'

'Ooh, I'm sick of your stupid conversations about witches. Let's go or we'll miss the film,' Richelle went towards the booking office.

But it was too late. The tickets were sold out.

'So, what do we do now?' Richelle asked sulkily. 'We've got two hours before the next film starts.'

'I've brought Parnass's book along with me,' Elmo said. 'We can read it.'

'Let's go to the library,' Liz suggested. 'It's still open now. We'll be able to read Parnass's book there. With a little luck we'll find a way to stop Marina.'

'Right,' Sunny nodded. 'Let's go.'

So, instead of watching an interesting film, we went to the Raven Hill Library. On the way there Richelle was grumbling that she was sick of witches and witchcraft and that we'd end up knee-deep in trouble again. Looking back I realize that I should have listened to her.

###

In the library we went straight to the reading-room and sat at the desk. Liz started reading Parnass's book aloud. The book was written in an old and scientific language. Liz'd been reading for five minutes or so when Tom began to stir.

'I don't understand a word!' he complained.

'You're not the only one,' Sunny giggled.

'I'll read it,' Elmo volunteered. Of course, he was the best-read and cleverest in the group. I'm also smart, at least I think so, but I had to admit that _this_ book was too difficult for me. Besides, I didn't feel like reading it. That was why I didn't object and let Elmo be the one to read this scientific stuff.

'Don't bother me, please,' Elmo said. 'I need to concentrate. I'll tell you later.'

He stood up and sat at the desk in the back of the room, as far as possible from us. Good luck, I thought, leaning back in my chair.

'What are _we_ supposed to do while he's reading?' Sunny asked. This girl can't sit doing nothing.

'Let's search books in the catalogue. I'm sure we'll find something interesting,' Liz suggested.

'Yeah, it's a good idea' Sunny nodded vigorously.

She, Liz and Tom wandered towards the computer terminals. Richelle and I exchanged glances. She shrugged, then stood up and wandered over to the magazine rack. She took a stack of magazines and settled down, planning to spend a couple of hours, looking at the pictures. I followed her and found a fairly new computer magazine. I sat down next to Richelle and tried to read. But soon I found myself turning the pages aimlessly, thinking about something else.

I gave up and went towards the computer terminals. The others had already found something and were sitting at the desk, reading and talking from time to time. I sat at the computer and typed "Witch" in the search line. The computer gave me the long list of books. I scrolled through the list. Most of books were modern, only one of them attracted my attention. "Mysterious creatures", published in 1921.

I went towards the borrowing desk to borrow this book. Mrs Eagle, the librarian, looked up at me in surprise.

'I wonder why so many people are interested in witchcraft lately,' she said.

'The teacher gave us an assignment to write a composition about folk legends,' I lied.

She nodded.

'My neighbor, Marina Tamon, also borrowed a couple of books about witchcraft for her grandmother, who is a herbalist,' she said.

Well well, Marina was here already, I thought. Why am I not surprised?

'I didn't know that Ms Tamon has got a grandmother,' I said out loud. 'I mean, she is a friend of my mother's and she's never told us about her grandmother.'

'She lives in another town with other granddaughter, but she's come to live with Marina for a change,' the librarian said. 'Her name is Barbara.'

'Ba-barbara?' I stammered.

She nodded. 'Wait here, I'll bring the book.'

She went away. I was standing there thunderstruck. Can all what we thought about the witchcraft be true? Can Marina be Galina's great-granddaughter? And what are they going to do?

Having taken the book I went over to the others. Liz was reading an article about magic in an old magazine. Sunny was looking through the encyclopedia. Tom found a modern book with the promising title "Witches, werebeasts and others.

'I wonder who the "others" are?' I grinned, sitting down next to Liz.

'Oh, there's so much the "others",' Tom responded. 'Goblins, mermaids, vampires, leprechauns, pixies and so on.'

'Oh, I see. The "others" are out, then,' I sneered. 'We're interested only in witches and werebeasts.'

'If I were you, I wouldn't be so hurry with conclusions,' Tom started arguing immediately. 'The friend of your mother's might be not only a witch but also a vampire, for example, hah?

'Yeah, right,' I drawled.

'Kids,' the librarian came up to us. 'I thought that you might be interested in reading this book. It was written by a famous scholar. He visited us about a year ago and donated a copy of his book to our library.'

She put a big volume on the table.

'"Deities. Myths and reality",' Tom read the title aloud.

'Thank you, Mrs Eagle,' said Liz.

The librarian left us alone and the others immersed in reading again.

I opened my book and found the chapter about witches. The text was written in a difficult scientific language. I had to read one and the same passage several times to understand it. Soon Liz finished reading her magazine and put it aside with a sigh.

'Nothing interesting,' she said.

She tried to read the encyclopedia together with Sunny. But Sunny looked at her angrily. 'Liz, stop peering here. Do something else, will you?

Liz sighed again and began to thumb through the famous scholar's book about deities.

'This book is useless,' she put the book aside ten minutes later. 'The author writes only about folk tales' characters, nothing about witches or sorcery. And deities are considered only from mythology's point of view.

Tom, Sunny and me went on reading without answering. Richelle came up to us.

'Let's go, guys. It's so boring here!' she whined. 'We'll miss the film again.'

'Shh,' Sunny hissed at her. 'Don't bother.'

'We'll miss the film anyhow, Rich,' I drawled. 'Elmo is still reading Parnass's book. We don't dare to disturb the great mind, do we?'

'Okay, if you say so,' she mumbled, flicking back her long hair irritably.

'Let's try to find something else, Richelle,' Liz stood up.

But hardly had they gone away from the desk, when we heard a familiar ingratiating voice from the foyer.

'Hello Nancy!' It's me. May I come in?'

Liz and Richelle froze. Elmo raised his head behind us. It was a voice we knew. It was Marina's voice.

'Is she spying us?' Tom said quietly.

I held up my hand to stop him. I didn't want Ms Tamon to know that we were there. Fortunately she went straight to the librarian.

'Hello, Ms Tamon! I'm very glad to see you!' we heard Mrs Eagle's voice.

'She seems to get on even with crabby Mrs Eagle!' Tom mumbled under his breath.

'Shut up,' I hissed at him.

Two women went on speaking. After chatter about the weather, Ms Tamon said, 'Nancy, did you hear about my grandmother? She came here to visit me and decided to stay for a few days.'

'Oh, it's very nice,' the librarian said politely.

'She's so old and weak, and she absolutely doesn't like travelling,' Marina went on. 'It was difficult to make her come. Usually she lives in countryside with another granddaughter. She came here about a month ago, but fell ill and I had to send her back.'

'A month ago?' Richelle whispered. 'The full moon was exactly a month ago…'

Liz nudged her in the ribs. Richelle pouted and flicked her hair back.

'Granny's going to stay here for a month or so,' Marina went on speaking. 'And I'm very glad. I really miss her sometimes.'

'But I thought that your granny is a herbalist,' Mrs Eagle said. 'Why didn't she cure herself?'

'The cobbler always wears the worst shoes, you know,' Ms Tamon laughed. 'Right before that poor Granny had cured a very sick man. I guess she'd caught his troubles.'

'Oh, dear! I'm so sorry!' the librarian exclaimed.

'Oh, never mind! Granny's fine now.'

'Um…by the way, dear Ms Tamon, may your grandmother examine my little son when she feels well? My poor sonny has heavy diathesis. And doctors can't decide how to treat him.'

'Oh, doctors! Doctors know nothing,' Marina said scornfully. 'Of course my granny will consult you. Come over to my place with your son tomorrow and we'll see what we can do.'

'Oh Marina, dear!' Mrs Eagle exclaimed happily. 'Thank you very much!'

'Please, don't thank me,' Marina objected. 'To cure children is a sacred business. But you also should help me, Mrs Eagle. Could you find a good historical novel for me? Something about the Middle Ages.'

'Take "The rose". It's a wonderful novel,' the librarian said. 'You'll find both love and adventures and mystery and crimes…'

'Very good,' Marina agreed.

'Wait a minute, please.'

Marina borrowed the book and went away. We looked at each other. None of us was certain that Marina and her granny were as kind as they wanted to seem. But for some reason, Marina seemed to try to chum up with all people in Raven Hill.

I looked back at Elmo. He plunged back into reading without saying anything. Tom, Sunny and I did the same. None of us, except Richelle, felt like going to the movies that night.

The book I was reading was quite interesting. I found a story that had place about two hundred years ago in a small village. Maria Jones, a herbalist, had been accused of deliberate poisoning cattle and killing people in indirect ways. People, who'd done something wrong to Maria, began feeling a terrible and inexplicable weakness. Some of her victims lost their memory; others were dying with diseases, though they had felt well before. As I pored over the book, my excitement grew.

'Listen,' I whispered finally and began to read aloud. '"This evil-minded child of hell created her sinister devilry through the use of infernal potions made of frogs, lizards, toadstools and other poisonous bogey. But the main sacrilege happened at night under the light of the full moon. Sneaked out to a bog, Maria set the ominous fire. Brewing devilish potions and dancing, she murmured sinister spells. And after that her enemies fell in death agony to go forever"'.

'It doesn't sound nice,' Tom shivered.

'If it's true, _our perspectives_ aren't very nice,' Rishelle whispered, her big blue eyes wide.

At that moment Elmo came up to us. He held a piece of paper, covered with writing from top to bottom.

'What's that?' enquired Tom.

'The summary,' Elmo responded seriously. 'How to deprive the witch of her magic power.'

'We've found something interesting too,' Sunny said. Elmo took the famous scholar's big volume and started to thumb through it.

'Why did you take this stupid book?' he said at last. 'There are only folk tales here.'

'You never know what you'll find,' Liz said sententiously. 'Besides, witches and deities are similar, if you ask me.'

'Yeah,' I jeered. 'Liz knows, she so often comes across witches and deities.'

'Come off it, Nick!' Liz waved her hand at me. 'Elmo, what do you think about this book theт?' she pointed at my book.

The chapter about witches from the old book captivated Elmo. He sat down at the table and quickly ran his eyes over the passage.

'It's interesting, but it's just facts,' finally he closed the book with a slam. 'These descriptions are useless for us. Our task is to stop Marina before she enchants the whole suburb. Do you remember what she'd done with Nick?'

'It's unforgettable,' I shivered.

'Yeah,' Elmo went on. 'But something worse might happen. We don't know her plans. And what does she want from my father? I doubt that she's in love with him. By the way, Apollon Parnass says that Marina belongs to so-called Black witches. It's Black witches who set such fire as we saw at the time of the full moon. And they use dried animals' and birds' limbs as magic amulets.'

'And how are you going to stop her?' Tom sneered.

'Not here,' Elmo looked sideways at some visitors. 'Let's go to the Glen and discuss it there.'

'I won't go to the Glen right now,' Richelle objected firmly. 'It's getting dark outside. The Glen is a spooky place in the dark.'

Sunny sniffed.

'I don't feel like going there either,' Liz supported Richelle.

'OK, let's go to the Black Cat café,' Sunny suggested. 'It's not far from here and we can take taxi after that.'

We stood up, collecting our stuff to go. It was getting dark. On the crowded street we felt safe but none of us said anything while we were walking. I guess we were thinking the same things. About Marina Tamon. About witches. About the sinister fire near the bog. About when we should stop before we get into trouble again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8. Apollon's method**

In the Black Cat Café we sat at our usual table and ordered drinks and meal.

'Let's start,' Elmo said, pulling out the big book and sheets of paper with his notes from his bag. 'In order to deprive the witch of her magic power we need a few things: a white kerchief, a handful of soil from somebody's grave, a votive candle, a copper coin, a lock of fair hair of a nine-month-old child and some water from seven different springs.'

'You call it "_a few things"_?' Tom wailed. 'Are you kidding us?'

'No,' Elmo said seriously. 'As a matter of fact, there are a lot of other methods how to deprive the witch of her power, but most of them are impossible for us. For example, Apollon recommends adding regularly a complicated potion to the witch's meal. But we can't add anything to Marina's plate three times a day.'

We nodded, agreeing with him.

'And which of you knows what a barrel font is?' Elmo looked at us inquiringly.

We glanced at each other and shook our heads.

'That's it,' Elmo went on. 'Parnass says that we can deprive the witch of her power using this barrel font.'

'I got it,' Tom laughed. 'We should take this barrel font and hit the witch on the head with all your might. She kicks up her heels straightaway and her power disappears.'

'To tell the truth,' Elmo went on, ignoring him, 'I don't even know what type of things this barrel font represents. In other methods I also found many strange terms,' he checked his notes. 'Untapped water, for example.'

'What's strange in it?' Tom was sincerely astonished. 'We'll buy a new untapped bottle of water and that's all.'

'Fool!' Elmo tapped with his finger on his temple. 'Parnass learnt this method in the end of the 19 century, during his trip to Tasmania. How could bottles of water get there in the 19 century, Tom?

'No, they couldn't,' Tom agreed.

'That's it,' Elmo nodded. 'That's why I had to exclude all methods except this one. This method, at least, is practicable.'

'Where are you going to find seven water springs here in Raven Hill?' I asked.

'It's all right with it,' Elmo said. 'I know three water springs near the Harbor. And there are two springs in the Glen and one on the outskirts of town.'

'And there is one water spring behind my house, in the park,' Tom put in.

'Where are we supposed to get baby's hair?' Sunny worried. 'We needn't just a baby. We need a nine-month-old baby with fair hair.'

'Well, I hope it won't be a problem,' Elmo said. 'Sure, we'll have to go around the park, and maybe from door to door until we find a proper baby.'

Richelle stared at him with horror in her blue eyes.

'What are you saying, Elmo Zimmer?' she yelled.

'Yeah,' I grinned. 'Don't you think, Elmo, that none of normal parents will let us rip a wisp of hair out of their child?'

'But we won't rip it out, Nick,' Liz looked at me. 'We'll just snip off carefully a small lock of hair.'

'Yeah, that's better,' I laughed. 'I can see the picture. We find the proper baby, creep up on it with the scissors and snip off a lock of its hair. And the baby's mother is standing beside us, smiling.'

'We'd better distract the baby's mother,' Sunny put in.

'It's not so easy,' Tom shook his head. 'Babies' mothers are always nervous.'

'They should be,' I drawled. 'Because as soon as she turns away from her baby, such rogues with the scissors will appear and cut off the poor child's hair. And it will be a good thing if they don't nip a piece of ear or nose incidentally.'

'I think we'll manage to do it,' Elmo said confidently. 'We'll think how to cut off the lock of hair after we find a proper child, okay?'

'Elmo's right,' Liz nodded firmly.

'Okay, even if we find all this stuff, what are we supposed to do next?' Tom enquired.

'Next,' Elmo began, 'We should take all this stuff and exactly at midnight do a sort of ritual. We should spread the white kerchief on the ground, put a handful of soil in the centre and put the copper coin on the soil. Then we should roll up the lock of hair, light the candle and stick hair with the melted wax to the coin. Then one of us should pour the water on the coin, saying the spell. Apollon Parnass says that we should pour the water till the end of the spell.'

'We'll take much water then,' practical Sunny put in.

'No, we can take only a glassful of water from each spring, no more,' Elmo shook his curly head. 'We'll just pour the water slowly. After that we should bundle the kerchief up and bury it under the witch's door.'

'I wonder how are you going to bury this kerchief under Marina's door?' I enquired. 'The house is on the foundation.'

'What's my fault?' Elmo spread his hands. 'It's an ancient method. I guess at that times witches lived in huts without any foundations. But I think it'll be all right if we bury the kerchief under the porch'

'Look, Elmo,' I drawled. 'Did Parnass say anything about how much time it takes to deprive the witch of her power? I mean what will happen if Marina and her granny catch us digging a pit next to their porch?'

'Parnass didn't say anything specific about time of depriving,' Elmo answered. 'He said "the witch is deprived of her power soon and isn't able to hurt anyone".'

'Don't forget that there are two witches,' Liz reminded.

'Fortunately for us they live in one house,' Sunny grinned.

'Yeah,' I drawled. 'That's why we can treat two of them with the one spelled kerchief. In bulk, I'd say.'

'Like The Brave Little Tailor,' Tom added. 'Seven of them with one blow.'

'Fortunately we have to disarm only two witches, not seven,' Elmo grinned. 'By the way, did you notice that Marina's granny's name is Barbara? And Galina's daughter was Barbara. I'm telling you, Marina is Galina's great-granddaughter.'

'Look, Elmo, what does Parnass say about black cats?' Tom enquired.

'Every child knows it without Parnass,' I sneered. 'Every witch has her own black cat.'

'I just wonder if this cat exists or not?' Tom repeated ignoring me.

'It's difficult to say,' Elmo responded. 'Parnass says that there are some variants. Maybe Marina turns into a cat from time to time. Or the cat can be real. Or there's the third variant, the cat exists, but Marina possesses her when she wants. But it doesn't matter. If we manage to deprive Marina and her grandmother of their power, the cat will become a plain animal.'

'Hey! Are you seriously going to do it?' Richelle stared at us with horror in her big blue eyes. 'You're mad.'

'We have to,' Liz said. 'Richelle, we've gone too far, we just can't turn back now.'

'Besides, all what we're going to do is try to deprive them of their power using this funny method,' Tom put in enthusiastically. 'If Marina tries to do something with us, we'll go to the police straightaway.'

'I don't understand one thing,' Liz shook her head. '"Black witches" are supposed to harm people. But Marina cures everyone in Raven Hill.'

'Her treatment is worse than the disease, if you ask me,' I objected. 'I wouldn't want my worst enemy to be cured by her. I personally, will never forget how she treated me.'

'According to Parnass the main danger of "black witches" is that they hurt people pretending to be kind and helpful,' Elmo agreed with me.

'She's going to cure Mrs Eagle's son of diathesis,' Richelle said. 'What's wrong in it?'

'If you had read Parnass's book, you'd understand what I mean,' Elmo sighed. 'He described lots of awful things that "black witches" do with the children. I vote we should run the ritual as soon as possible.'

'But what if Parnass's method won't help?' Sunny asked calmly.

'We'll think of it afterwards,' Elmo said slowly. 'Anyway, we have to get rid of Marina on our own. No one will help us, because no one will believe.'

'And we don't have evidences,' I put in.

'And almost all adults in Raven Hill love Marina very much,' Tom added.

'It's a vicious circle,' Elmo said thoughtfully. 'Some people, like Sunny's mother or Nick's father don't believe in magic at all. But other people, who believe it, reckon that Marina is just an angel.'

'We should do it before the full moon comes,' Liz said anxiously.

'I think we'll do it tomorrow,' Elmo answered. 'But now we must keep in distance from Marina and her granny. Now, let's discuss what we are going to do.'

'Right,' Tom nodded.

'I've got an old copper coin,' Elmo began.

'I'll bring a votive candle and a handful of soil from the grave,' Liz said. 'Mum is going to the funeral of her colleague's mother tomorrow. I'll go with her.'

'I've got a big white kerchief,' Sunny put in.

'Good,' Elmo nodded. 'In other words, we have everything except water and a lock of baby's hair. Nick, Richelle and Sunny, you will go to look for hair tomorrow. They'll do it better, Tom,' he added quickly, noticing that Tom opened his mouth to object. 'Nick and Richelle are good at charming people. And Sunny are very dexterous. While Nick and Richelle will be distracting adults, Sunny'll cut a wisp of hair. Tom, you will go with me to seek water.

'Listen Elmo, can we use ex-nine-month-old child's hair?' I drawled, smiling mysteriously.

'What do you mean?' he stared at me.

'Well, Richelle was nine-month-old child, wasn't she?' I explained. 'And her hair is still fair.'

Tom sneered and stretched his hands out to Richelle's hair, looking ferociously.

'Don't dare to touch my hair!' Richelle shrieked.

'Guys, be serious,' Elmo scowled. 'Stop joking around.'

'Okay,' Sunny said calmly. 'Nick, Richelle and I will meet at nine o'clock in the park tomorrow and will go to look for the suitable baby.'

Richelle and I looked at one another and sighed.

'Come on,' smiled Liz. 'Elmo's right, you two easily can charm people and make them do what you want them to do.'

'They can easily pull the wool over people's eyes, you mean,' Tom sneered.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. We paid for the drinks and called a taxi. It was dark outside. I was glad that I didn't have to go home through the dark Raven Hill.

'I want you to know that I don't like it,' Richelle muttered. 'I have a feeling that we'll get into trouble again. Remember it.'

###

That night I lay in the dark wide awake. I couldn't sleep. I lay in bed tossing and turning. It was hot in the bedroom, but I didn't dare to open the window. I was afraid that Blackie was wandering somewhere not far. Finally I fell into a sort of half-sleep and had a nightmare. Marina realized that we want to stop her. She trapped us and got us to the Witch Lake. Near the flaring fire Marina and her grandmother were stirring something smoking in the pot. Then Marina turned to me, her eyes sparkling with rage…

I sat bolt upright.

'Everything's fine,' I said to myself. 'It's just a dream.'

I glanced at my watch. 3:00 a.m. I was still trembling all over and decided to spend the rest of the night awake. I pulled on some clothes and went downstairs quietly, heading for the kitchen.

In the kitchen I made a cup of coffee and sat at the table, my head in my hands. The last events seemed unreal. Witches nowadays? Is it really possible? I heard a movement near the door and looked up. Mum put her head around the kitchen door.

'Nicko, is everything okay?' she asked.

'Yeah, I just have a sort of insomnia,' I said.

'Me too,' she nodded.

Mum made a cup of tea for herself and sat down in front of me.

'Do you know that Ms Tamon dates with Zim?' I asked carefully.

'What?' mum exclaimed in surprise.

'Yeah, they went to a restaurant yesterday.'

'It's… strange. She didn't tell me,' mum's voice sounded aggrievedly.

'Perhaps she forgot.'

'Perhaps it was just a business dinner. She's going to write articles for the Pen.'

'Well, the way they looked at each other, I can tell you that it wasn't just a business dinner,' I grinned.

Mum pressed her lips aggrievedly. 'Nicko, since when are you interested in such things?'

'Zim is Elmo's father. Your friend might become his step-mother.'

'I'll ask her,' mum said looking through the window blankly.

Come on, ask her, I thought. We'll see what Marina will say.

'Okay, I'm going to bed,' I said out loud, grabbing my cup of coffee and a handful of cookies.

Mum also stood up. We reached their bedroom, she gave me a kiss and went to bed. I came into my room and sat down on the window-ledge. I was sipping my coffee and staring out through the window. Day was breaking. My head was heavy, I could hardly keep my eyes open and my thoughts were tangled. Finally I put the cup aside and crawled into bed and fell asleep within thirty seconds.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. Preparing the ritual**

Next morning I woke up, feeling like a zombie. I didn't feel like getting up. All what I wanted was to stay in bad all day long. I rolled over and checked the time. Eight a.m. I'm to meet Sunny and Richelle in the park in an hour. I crawled out of bed and wandered to the bathroom. The hot shower cheered me up a little.

I had something to eat and trudged to the park. Sunny was there when I arrived. She was doing leg stretches under the big tree, calm and full of energy as usual.

'Hello,' she smiled when I came up to her. 'You don't look very good, Nick. Is something wrong?'

'Oh, no. I had a bad night, that's all,' I grumbled.

'Take it easy, Nick. Lighten up,' she grinned.

'I try,' I sighed. 'Where's Richelle?'

Sunny shrugged her shoulders. 'Late, as usual.' She looked at me attentively. 'Are you okay, Nick?' she asked. 'Did Marina come again to your place?'

'No,' I shook my head. 'I just…I can't explain it, Sunny. I don't understand.'

'You're not the only one,' she agreed. 'I don't believe in such stuff either, you know. But even I have to admit that something weird is going on. And we shouldn't stop now. We should try to run this ritual. We can't let her use Zim and the Pen and your mother. Besides it's funny! Can you imagine us as sorcerers?'

I nodded, smiling. I didn't want Sunny to think that I'm scared. Fortunately Richelle came up to us at that moment.

'Hello!' she sang.

I opened my mouth to complain that she'd been late again, but she gave me her dazzling smile and my irritation disappeared.

'On my way here I saw a fair-haired baby,' she announced. 'It was in the stroller. I don't know how old it is, but it must be about nine-month-old or so.'

I found myself smiling at her. Whatever happens, Richelle is always on the top.

We walked down the park looking around for the baby.

'Have you brought the scissors?' Sunny turned to Richelle.

'Sure,' she pulled out the little scissors from her shoulder bag and handed them over to Sunny.

We turned into one of the park tracks and saw two women, walking slowly with strollers in the distance.

'We're lucky,' Richelle whispered. 'They are still walking.'

'And another baby appeared,' Sunny added. 'We have options now.'

But when we came closer, we saw that we had no options. The second baby was dark-haired.

'Oh, what a nice babies,' Sunny and Richelle exclaimed, sounding quite sincerely.

'Yeah, good guys,' I bared my teeth in a fake smile.

'It's girls, not guys,' the women sang, smiling happily.

'That's better,' I said with a stupid grin. 'How old are they?' I decided to get to the point.

'My girl is ten-month-old,' fair-haired baby's mother said.

'Oh, what's a pity,' Richelle's face fell in disappointment.

'What? Why?' the women gaped at her.

'Well, we hoped this girl is _nine-month-old_.'

'My girl is nine-month-old,' dark-haired baby's mother said, smiling.

'Whatever,' Richelle mumbled.

The women glared at her. I gave Richelle a dirty look and quickly interfered into the conversation.

'She means that we _thought_ this girl is nine month old,' I pointed at the fair-haired baby, 'and that this girl is ten month old,' I jerked my head at another stroller. Probably it wasn't a good explanation, because the two women stared at us suspiciously as if we were a bunch of loonies.

'We made a bet,' Sunny put in. 'And Richelle has lost.'

Two young mothers laughed nervously and walked up the track.

'Our happiness was so close,' Sunny said gravely, looking after them. 'But we have to look for another baby.'

'Yeah,' Richelle sighed. 'Let's go then.'

'Where do we go?' I asked them. 'Think, girls, think. I don't feel like going around the park all day long. Where can we find little children not far from here at this time?

We wandered silently along the park, looking around. Finally Sunny exclaimed "I know" and confidently turned right. Richelle and I looked at one another and followed her. Soon we realized that Sunny was right. She stopped at the small house from where we could hear a terrible child's howl.

'A noisy kid,' Richelle pointed out.

'At least he's fair-haired as far as I remember,' Sunny said, opening the gate. 'I know this child. His grandmother is a friend of my great-grandmother's. Her name is Theresa Aglay.'

The closer we were coming, the louder the howl was. We turned round the corner of the house and saw a funny scene. There was a baby high chair on the back yard. A baby with red face, because of crying, was sitting on the high chair. An old woman was fussing around the baby. Holding a plate with the porridge in one hand and a spoon in another hand, she was trying to feed the baby. But the little thing was ducking, resisting and crying.

'Danny! Danny!' the old lady cooed. 'Look at your granny! What is the granny doing?'

To our astonishment, the old little Mrs Aglay started dancing something like boogie-woogie. The kid fell silent and froze, looking at her with fascination. But as soon as Mrs Aglay tried to put a spoon full of the porridge into the baby's mouth, he ducked and howled again. The spoon with porridge hit his ear, smearing the porridge over it.

'Oh oh,' the old lady cooed. She put the plate on the ground and began to wipe Danny's ear.

'Are you sure that this baby is fair-haired?' I asked girls. 'I'd say he's a little reddish-haired.'

'Not very,' Sunny objected.

'Well, he's not so red-haired as Elmo,' Richelle agreed with her. 'I reckon he's quite fair-haired.'

'Okay, if you say so,' I shrugged. 'Let's find out how old he is then.'

We went closer to them.

'Oh, Sunny,' Mrs Aglay exclaimed. 'It's so nice of you to come! Can you help me, dear? Danny's parents are in business trip and I completely can't cope with this little bandit.'

Danny fell silent, looking at us cautiously.

'He doesn't want to eat the porridge, does he?' Sunny said sympathetically.

'Maybe we should change the diapers?' Richelle showed an unexpected knowledge. 'What mark of diapers do you use?'

'The deuce knows!' Mrs Aglay exclaimed desperately. 'But I've just checked it. Danny is absolutely dry.'

'Okay, let's try to feed him then,' Sunny stepped closer to the baby. 'You two,' she turned to us, 'hold him tightly while I'll be cramming the porridge into his mouth.'

'What? No! No!' the old woman protested.

'Okay, we'll try in another way,' Sunny changed her tactics immediately. She picked up the plate from the ground and leaned down to Danny.

'Danny-Danny! What a tasty porridge! Let's eat one little spoon of it for your daddy,' she cooed.

Danny stared at her and obediently opened his mouth. Sunny quickly crammed the spoon full of porridge into Danny's mouth. The child chewed it thoughtfully and then spat the porridge out right on Sunny's smiling face. And then he began to howl again.

'Oh, poor Sunny! I'm so sorry!' Mrs Aglay ran up to them and started wiping the porridge from Sunny's face.

'Sunny, you don't know how to treat children. Let me try,' Richelle said smugly and grabbed the spoon and the plate from Sunny's hands.

But it was all useless. Soon everything around was smudged with the porridge – the grass, the high chair, our hands and clothes. But Danny didn't eat anything.

'I think he's just not hungry, Mrs Aglay,' I said firmly at last.

'But his mother usually feeds him at this time,' Mrs Aglay objected.

'Try to give him another meal,' I suggested. 'The fruit squash or baby cookies or something like that. How old is he?'

'About nine month old or so,' the woman answered. She thought for a while. 'Yes, he's nine-month-old,' she nodded.

We glanced at each other. What a luck! We had to get Danny's hair by any means.

'Distract her,' Sunny whispered, looking sideways at Mrs Aglay.

I nodded. But there was no need to worry. Mrs Aglay ran her hand through her hair and looked at us in despair.

'I left the pot with soup on the stove in the kitchen,' she exclaimed. 'Sunny, look after Danny, please. I'll be back in a minute.'

We nodded vigorously. It was just what we needed. Mrs Aglay rushed into the house.

'Don't be hurry,' Sunny called after her and turned to us. 'Richelle, watch her. Nick, help me.'

But as soon as she leaned down to the baby, he started spinning and howling again. I tried to sooth him, but I wasn't good with children. They always make me nervous.

'Hurry up!' Richelle hissed. 'She'll be back soon.'

Danny went on howling and spinning.

'Hold his head,' Sunny ordered. 'I'll try to come from behind.'

I grasped Danny's head. Sunny quickly cut the wisp of golden hair from the back of his head.

'Okay, let go of him,' she said.

I released Danny's head and he sank his teeth into my finger immediately. I wailed and jumped aside.

'I wouldn't like to be his grandmother,' I groaned, rubbing my finger.

'You'll never be,' Richelle smiled. 'Hurt?'

'Hurt,' I grumbled.

Sunny, meanwhile, examined the back of Danny's head. Strangely, the haircut had an unexpected result. Danny calmed down and even allowed us to feed him with the porridge.

'Probably this lock of hair bothered Danny, that's why he was so nervous,' Richelle announced when we were walking along the street to the Pen office.

'At least Mrs Aglay was pleased,' I grinned.

'We're lucky,' Sunny added. 'We managed to get fair hair so quickly. I thought it would be more difficult. Elmo should be pleased.'

'Don't be hurry,' I drawled. 'Master Elmo can say that according to Parnass the lock of hair shouldn't be a little reddish.'

'If he says so, he'll go to find other kid by himself,' Richelle grumbled.

But when we arrived at the Pen office, where Tom and Elmo were already waiting for us, Elmo announced that he didn't see any reddish tone in Danny's hair. In fact, he even brightened up when we told what an active baby Danny was. As he put it, according to Parnass, effect from hair of active children is stronger.

'In other words,' he summarized, 'you've found the perfect hair.'

We sighed with relief. At least this task was finished. Elmo and Tom had already brought some water from seven different springs and Elmo mixed it in a bottle.

###

We heard sound of steps and Liz stormed into the room.

'Here you are,' she pulled out of her bag a candle and a packet with soil. 'I took it without telling mum. I hate lying to her,' she complained.

So, we had everything except the white kerchief, but Sunny promised to bring it later.

'Okay,' said Elmo. 'I suggest doing it today. We can do it at my place. Dad has dinner with Marina tonight and he'll come home late. Or he won't come home tonight at all,' he added.

'Their relationship is getting serious, isn't it?' I grinned.

Elmo nodded gravely. 'Dad's mad about her,' he sighed.

'Hey, I have a little question,' Tom put in, looking at us with a sly smile on his face. 'Who's going to conduct the ritual?'

'Not me,' Elmo said quickly. 'I've read this awful scientific book, worked it out and made notes. I'm not going to eat the whole cake.'

'Liz?' Tom looked at her. 'What about you?'

'I'm afraid I won't be able to come,' Liz said, looking down at the table. 'You know how my mother worries about me. She won't let me go outside so late.'

'Richelle, do _you_ want to try?' Tom grinned. 'You're the most sensitive and spiritual in the group, aren't you?

'No, I can't do it,' Richelle looked her nose down at Tom. 'I'm _too_ sensitive. Let Sunny do it, she's the calmest.'

'Come on, guys,' I snorted. 'Don't make up excuses. Just admit that you're all scared to death.'

I shouldn't have said this. Richelle put her hands on her hips and glared at me. 'If you're so clever and brave, Nick Kontellis, you'll do it then.'

'Right,' Sunny grinned.

'Seems fair to me,' Tom put in.

'And you know Marina better than any of us, Liz added smiling.

'Yeah,' Elmo nodded. 'Parnass says that the more the man knows the witch, the better the spell will affect her.'

I didn't say anything. I wasn't keen on idea of running the ritual, but at the same time I couldn't let them think that I also was scared.

'Besides, Nick, the spell is quite long and difficult,' Elmo added, looking at me seriously. 'I'm afraid none of us can learn it by heart so quickly.'

I sighed. It was the first time in my entire life when I started to regret that I had a good memory.

'Are you scared, Nickers?' Tom giggled.

'I'm not scared,' I snapped. 'And you, Moysten Wonderful, will go with me to Marina's house to bury the kerchief.'

The smile disappeared from Tom's face.

'I don't know if I will be able to come,' he mumbled. 'Brian might forbid me to go.'

'Are you scared?' I raised one eyebrow.

'I'll come,' Tom said firmly.

'Okay, I guess two people is enough to bury the kerchief,' Elmo said. 'I mean everyone can present at the ritual, but only Nick and Tom will go to Marina's place after that. If something happens to them we'll go to the police immediately. Now. Nick, this is the text of the spell,' he gave me the piece of paper. 'You have to learn it by heart by midnight.'

I looked at the spell and ran my eyes over it. Text of the spell? It's more like an ancient prayer, from which I understood only a few words.

'What's that?' I demanded. 'I don't…

'You don't have to understand it,' Elmo interrupted, with a superior smiling. 'Just learn it. Can you?'

'Sure,' I grumbled.

'Okay. Now. Let's meet at my place at seven o'clock or so. You can say to your parents that I asked you to help me in the Pen. I don't think your parents will be against it.

'At seven o'clock is fine,' Tom nodded. 'I'm sure Brian wouldn't let me go outside near midnight.'

'Neither do my parents,' agreed Richelle.

'But they won't object if we say that we'll linger at the Pen office,' Liz put in. She looked cheered up. I guess she wanted to be present at the ritual, but was afraid that her adored mother wouldn't let her go. 'By the way,' she added. 'I saw Mrs Eagle at the funeral, she said to my mum that Marina had examined her little son and he would stay at Marina's place for two days. Marina and her granny said that they could treat him.'

'_What_?' Elmo exploded.

'Mrs Eagle said that Marina is a wonderful woman,' Liz frowned. 'Mum also wants to get acquainted with her.'

'My worst expectations've come true,' Elmo said gravely. 'They keep the child at their place not for nothing.'

'I think you're exaggerating,' I shook my head. 'Perhaps Marina wants something from Mrs Eagle, that's why they decided to cure her son. That's all.'

'First of all, I doubt that she can cure anyone,' Elmo objected. 'You, Nick, obviously forgot how she'd cured you.'

'I'll never forget it,' I shivered. 'But Marina managed to find out where the amulet was hidden. It means that she has some power.'

'If she hadn't any power, we wouldn't expend out time to her,' Sunny said calmly. 'I agree with Elmo. Marina's treatment won't end up well for the boy.'

'And don't forget that the full moon is coming,' Liz added. 'The boy will be with them at this time.'

'Do you think that they're going to kill the boy?' Richelle widened her big blue eyes.

'Nonsense,' I snapped. 'How can they kill Mrs Eagle's kid? Everyone knows that they are treating him. If something happens to him, the whole world will know about it soon.'

'I don't think they'll kill him,' agreed Elmo. 'Marina does her best to look as a God-mother. She has far-reaching plans here in Raven Hill. But they can use his blood or hair or something for their purposes. No one will notice it.'

'We can't let them do it,' Liz exclaimed.

'I hope Parnass's method will work,' Tom said. 'There's nothing else we can do.'

'Okay, we've got the picture,' Sunny stood up. 'Now can we go? I've got the gym class.'

'Yeah. And I have to learn the spell,' I added gloomily.

'And I want to read Parnass's book,' Elmo nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10. The ritual**

Exactly at seven o'clock we gathered next to Elmo's house. Zim had already gone to meet Marina. We sat, watching TV and talking at Elmo's house, then walked for a while. Time dragged on. We returned to Elmo's place and started playing cards.

About thirty minutes after eleven we began to prepare the ritual. We went to the backyard and found a good place underneath the big gum-tree. Elmo pulled out the stuff from the plastic bag and put it on the ground. I watched him, trying to stop trembling. Sunny took my hand.

'Relax,' she whispered in my ear. 'Take a deep breath. Everything'll be all right.'

I glanced at her gratefully. She was smiling calmly, as usual. Elmo beckoned to me. I knelt down beside him. He explained what I would have to do.

'Okay,' I said. 'I understood.'

I looked at my watch. Seven minutes to midnight. We stood silently in the shadow of the tree behind Elmo's house. The almost full moon lit the backyard, creating spooky shadows of bushes and trees. Everyone was very pale. It could be easily seen even in the moonlight. Tom, who hadn't got watch, asked about time over and over again. For once I wasn't annoyed. I was trembling all over and repeated the spell to myself.

'What time is it?' Tom enquired again.

'Shh,' Liz shushed.

'By the way,' Elmo whispered. 'When Nick will be saying the spell, we should surround him and join hands with each other.

'Clear,' Sunny said briefly, the others just nodded.

Finally Elmo commanded quietly, 'It's time.'

They surrounded me, hand in hand. I took a deep breath and knelt down on the ground. With trembling hands, I spread the kerchief on the grass, poured the soil in the centre of the kerchief, put the old copper coin on the soil and lit the candle. Then I rolled up Danny's hair and dropped some melted wax on it. When the ring of hair was stuck to the coin, I took the bottle with water from seven springs. Pouring the water on the kerchief, I started saying the spell.

I was whispering very quietly. Even I scarcely heard my voice, which melted into whisper of leafage, splash of water from the little pond near the next house, and other vague rustles of the night.

Finally I stopped and looked up at the others. Their pale faces surrounded me.

'Done,' I whispered and bundle up the kerchief with the spelled stuff.

###

We walked towards the road.

'Have you done it properly, Nick?' Tom whispered. 'I mean, there's no point to go to bury this stuff, if you've forgotten something.'

'Don't feel like going to the witches at night, do you, Tom,' I sneered.

'I don't feel like doing unavailing things,' he murmured, stumbled and somersaulted into a thick bush.

'See who's talking about the unavailing things,' I drawled, noticing how Liz and Elmo helped Tom to crawl out of bushes. Probably it was very filthy there, because Tom was covered from head to foot with dirt, rotten leaves and other trash.

'Great!' Sunny examined him, smiling. 'Now you look perfectly to visit witches, Tom.'

'Tom disguised himself as a dark night,' I laughed nervously. I was still trembling.

'Tom, you'll dig the pit, then,' added Elmo.

'I wonder how I'm supposed to dig.' Tom looked at him gloomily. 'With hands?'

'No,' Elmo smiled and pulled out of his bag a small plastic scoop.

'Okay,' Tom grabbed the scoop.

'Now we'll split up,' Elmo said. 'It's late and your parents will start worrying soon. Nick, Tom, call me as soon as you get home. And don't dare do anything else,' he added sternly. 'Don't take a bear by the tooth. Just bury the kerchief and go home at once. Do you understand?'

'Yes, boss!' Tom saluted.

'Be careful,' Liz put in. 'And please, don't fight.'

'All right! All right!' I muttered.

We called the taxi and went onto the street. Then Elmo went home, the girls took one taxi and Tom and I took other taxi.

###

When we arrived at Marina's place, we found that the gate was locked.

'It's something new,' I whispered in surprise. 'She's never locked her gate.'

'How do you know?' Tom enquired.

'Mum told me. She said that "Marina's house is open for anyone all day and night long".'

'Probably they've got an excuse to lock the gate tonight,' Tom said. 'Hey!' he grabbed my arm, 'Mrs Eagle's son is here tonight.'

'Hurry up,' I mumbled.

I climbed a fence, Tom followed me. We crept through the overgrown garden and at last came up to the front porch. Then we stopped, listening. The house was silent, windows were dark. There was a full silence in the garden.

'They seem to be sleeping,' I whispered.

'And cat hasn't appeared,' Tom pointed out. 'This proves that she doesn't exist. Otherwise she would come to see us.'

'She's a cat, not a dog, idiot,' I muttered. 'Cats never come to see people if they're not hungry.'

'All the same, I reckon that Blackie doesn't exist,' Tom kept arguing.

'Let's discuss it later,' I growled. 'I want to bury this damn kerchief and go home. I'm not going to spend the whole night here.'

Right at that time we heard a creak of the door from behind the house. We froze. Then we heard old woman's voice.

'Blackie! Blackie! Kitty-kitty-kitty!'

'They aren't asleep,' Tom whispered in my ear.

'Luckily for us Marina's granny decided to call the cat from the back door, not from here,' I whispered back.

'Blackie! Blackie!' we still could hear the old duck's voice, coming from the back entrance.

'This cat drives me crazy,' complained Tom. 'Does she exist or not?

'There you are, my darling,' we heard Marina's grandmother's exclamation. 'Come here, dear!'

'Let's check it?' I glanced at Tom.

I tiptoed towards the back door. Tom followed me. Unfortunately the door had creaked and slammed before we reached the corner of the house. But there was a light in one of the windows on this side of the house.

'Let's see what's there?' Tom whispered.

I nodded. Of course, I knew that we should bury the kerchief and go home straightaway, it was dangerous to stay there. But my curiosity always was stronger than my common sense. We crept up on the house and carefully looked into the window. There was Marina, standing in front of the mirror and combing her hair. A moment later her grandmother came into the room. The window was half-opened and we could hear the voices clearly.

'How are you doing with your editor?' the old woman asked.

'Fine,' Marina answered. She gave a sort of sinister laughter. 'He's completely tamed. Don't worry about him. He'll do everything for me. And of course, he doesn't suspect anything.'

Marina burst into screechy laughter. Her grandmother did the same. Their high-pitched voices made me shiver.

'You're a good girl, Marina,' the old woman squeaked. 'You've done well. He'll bring the boy. This boy is little, but very heavy.'

'I just wish it wouldn't frustrate!' Marina said anxiously.

'Yeah,' her grandmother agreed. 'This time everything is going right. Do you remember the last time? Oh, it was so difficult!'

'I don't even want to remember it,' Marina exclaimed. 'Last time everything was going wrong from the start. And we'd lost the amulet.'

'All is well that ends well,' the old woman grinned. Saying this, she pulled at the chain on her neck and I saw the familiar thing…

'_The dried hoof!_' Tom whispered in my ear. 'The same hoof…' I dug him in the ribs.

Marina smiled and kissed the amulet.

'I promised that I would find it, didn't I?' she said happily. 'I knew that I could return it.'

'Are you sure that that boy doesn't remember anything?' the old woman asked anxiously.

'Yes, I am! Why are you controlling me all the time?' Marina responded irritably. 'I'm sure that that he doesn't remember anything. After that tisane I'm surprised that he remembers his name. And his mother is also tamed. So, there's no need to worry.'

'Okay, don't be angry, dear,' said the old woman, raising a conciliatory hand. 'I'm just a little bit nervous because of these kids, who are in our way.'

'Darling,' we heard Zim's voice from the inside of the house.

'I'm coming,' sang Marina. 'Discuss it later,' she hissed to her grandmother and went out of the room. The old woman turned the light off and followed her.

'Let's go,' I pulled Tom's hand. I wished I hadn't heard this conversation. The thought what that tisane could do with me made me feel sick.

Quietly we reached the front porch.

'Dig,' I commanded.

'Where?' Tom asked.

'Near the last step'.

Tom started digging, but stopped at once.

'Damn,' he swore.

'What?'

'There are bricks here. I can't dig.'

'Dig somewhere else,' I advised.

'Where else?' Tom looked at me with puzzled expression on his face.

'Damn, Tom!' I felt a surge of irritation rise up in my chest. 'Dig where you can dig.' I started to regret that I hadn't asked Sunny or Elmo to come here with me instead of Tom.

'Okay, okay,' Tom began to dig at last.

'Ready?' I asked a few minutes later.

'Almost,' Tom whispered solemnly.

'What does "almost" mean?'

'If the bundle fits into the pit, it's ready,' he explained. 'Or if it doesn't fit, the pit is _almost_ ready.'

I knelt on the ground and put the kerchief into the pit.

'Fine,' I assured myself that the bundle fits in the pit properly. 'Fill up.'

Tom carefully filled the pit with soil. Then we firmed the ground. I examined the place. It was almost unnoticeable, at least in the dark.

'Now even the witches won't notice,' Tom whispered in satisfaction.

'I'm not so sure about the witches,' I muttered. 'Okay, let's go home before the others raise an alarm.'

I was about to stand up when I heard a movement beside us and Tom fell flat on his face. I looked up and saw Marina, who was standing in front of me with a baseball bat in her hands. I knew horror at that moment. Her lips curled into a sinister smile.

'Hello, Nick,' she said coldly. 'Unfortunately I can't say that I'm glad to see you.'

There was a quick movement behind me and a flashing explosion of pain went off in my head. Then there was only blackness.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11. Prisoners**

I woke up in a small dark room. Beams of light radiated through the little gridded window. Obviously it was daytime. My head was nearly splitting. Slowly I remembered events of last night and felt cold. Where am I? I tried to stand up, but I couldn't. I was bound hand and foot, my mouth was gagged with packing tape. I looked around. There was a body not far from me. Tom! I rolled over and tried to move him. For heaven's sake, Tom, be alive, I thought in panic. Please, be all right.

Tom didn't answer, but I noticed that he was breathing. At least he's alive.

Tears came into my eyes. I blinked them away angrily. Gradually I remembered everything what had happened. The ritual. The eavesdropped conversation. Marina, standing in front of me. Suddenly I remembered something else. Zim was there. I heard his voice, he would help us. A faint hope flickered in my chest. But then other thought floated in my memory. If Marina hit Tom, who did hit me then? Her grandmother? No, it's impossible. Whoever hit me, he was quite strong.

Tom groaned and moved. In the dimness I could see that hair on the back of his head was matted in blood. I guess my hair looked the same. The back of my head was throbbing.

Tom opened his eyes and looked around. He noticed me and moaned something, but then closed his eyes again. The door creaked. I looked up and saw Marina standing at the doorway.

'Good morning,' she sneered and pulled the tape from my mouth.

'What you do want?' I croaked.

'I warned you that curiosity killed the cat, remember?' she laughed. The old woman also came in.

'Ready?' she squeaked.

'Now I'm going to untie you, Nick. You can go to the bathroom and then eat something,' Marina said to me. 'No funny business, okay? Don't make the situation worse. My granny is staying here with your friend and if you don't do what I'll tell you to do, he'll be sorry. Is it clear?'

I nodded. The old woman held a big knife in her hands and looked at me gravely. Marina untied my legs and arms and helped me to my feet. My head was spinning; everything was swimming before my eyes. The back of my head was in terrible pain.

'Go,' Marina ordered firmly and pushed me towards the door. I glanced at Tom and left the room. Marina led me through the dark hallway and pointed at the bathroom.

'Nothing foolish,' she repeated.

Perhaps she was afraid that I could try to run for it, not caring about Tom. I really wanted to, but I couldn't leave Tom here.

'Cheer up, Kontellis,' I said to myself, looking into the mirror above the sink. 'You should be strong. When they go away, we'll think how to run.'

I turned on the water and washed my face. Then I tried to wash blood off the back of my head.

As soon as I finished, Marina led me to the kitchen and gave me a cup of tea and two sandwiches. After that we returned to the little room and she tied me again. Now it was Tom's turn to go to the bathroom. He left the room, escorted by the old woman.

Marina sat down next to me.

'I warned you, sunshine. I told you not to bother me,' she said coldly. 'But I should've known better that you, kids, wouldn't stop. Elmo told me about your Teen Power Inc. business.'

I was silent.

'Why didn't you listen?' she went on. 'Everything'd been going right before you appeared.' She became angrier. She ran her fingers through my hair. 'We had to change our plans because of you, boys. Now you're playing the star role.'

Suddenly I realized that something was wrong with me. I saw double and felt like sleeping very much. A wave of panic swept over me. What's going on with me? Marina noticed my state and smiled.

'It's just soporific draught,' she said. 'I poured it into your tea. Don't be afraid, sunshine. You're safe for a while.'

My head was spinning unbearably. I remember vaguely how the old woman pushed Tom back into the room, how they tied him. Marina's last words were going round in my head. What did she mean saying "you're safe for a while"? Why for a while? Then I fell into deep sleep.

###

When I woke up again, it was very dark in the room. Night. Our parents are searching for us, I thought, trying to calm myself down. The others know where we are and the police will be here soon.

I looked around. Tom was here in the room, but it was impossible to understand if he was sleeping or not. Why haven't the police found us yet? I thought. Is it so difficult to put two and two together and understand where we are?

The door creaked and Marina came in.

'Will you go to the bathroom?' she asked.

I nodded. She untied me and led me to the bathroom. Then we went back straight to our prison. Marina tied me again and led Tom out of the room.

I was left alone there. I rolled up to the table and tried to scramble to my feet. With my hands and feet bound it was very difficult to do. I fell down several times, but in the end, I managed to stand up. I jumped to the window and looked through it… and blinked. I didn't know that street. It wasn't Marina's house. I knew her place very well. They kept us in other place. My heart sank. That's why the police haven't found us yet, I thought desperately. Marina is cleverer than we thought.

The door swung open and Marina, her granny and Tom came in. Marina pushed Tom onto the floor and tied him. He didn't even try to resist.

'Your friend has already got one more dose of soporific draught,' the old woman said mischievously. 'Your turn.'

She came up to me and shoved me onto the floor, her strength was unbelievable. I hit the floor, smashing against a table corner and twisting my arms. Everything went dark before my eyes.

'Easy, Granny, easy,' I heard Marina's voice as though she was far away. 'We still need them, remember?'

She knelt down beside me and stroked my hair.

'At least, now we don't need to make him sleep,' she said. 'Toula will be very upset when they find you. I'm really sorry that I have to disappoint such nice woman.'

I closed my eyes. My temples were throbbing, my head was spinning unbearably, I felt sick. I must have hit my head too hard, I thought. Fool! It's not the right time to think about the head!

'Don't worry, granny,' Marina was saying at that time. 'These two are better than that little boy.'

'I know,' the old woman said. 'When is your admirer coming?'

'Any moment,' Marina replied. 'Let's go, we have to make a cup of tea for him.'

The door slammed and their voices disappeared.

###

The cool wind gently blew into my face. A fire crackled nearby. Probably I'm in a camp with my friends, I thought. But what am I doing in the camp? I moved and my body immediately filled with pain. My arms, legs, head, every part of my body was aching. I opened my eyes. I was out of town. The full moon shone brightly on the dark sky, leafage whispered quietly, water splashed not far from me, the smell of rotten grass hung in the air. The smell seemed familiar. Such smell was near the Witch Lake. My eyes widened with horror. _The Witch Lake! _

I looked around in panic. I was lying near the big fire. Tom was lying beside me, his eyes open widely. The old woman was putting some stuff on the ground in front of the fire, while Marina and Zim were making the circled fire.

When they finished their preparing, Marina and her grandmother put on long, black cowls. Marina pulled out a large cup and knife from her bag. Knife's blade threateningly blinked in the light of flames. Zim stood aside, looking at Marina like a faithful dog, ready to fulfill any of her orders.

I watched them in horror. Panic possessed me. I realized that we wouldn't leave this place alive. I started to jerk with my legs and arms, trying to loosen ropes, but it didn't help. Finally I gave up and glanced at Tom. There wasn't even the tiniest hope in his eyes, only desperate. This is it, I thought desperately. We're going to die here, and eventually our bodies will be found in the mire and dirt. Me and Moysten. What an irony!

Marina said something to Zim and pointed at me. He came up to me and stripped the tape from my mouth. Then he untied me. My arms and legs could hardly move.

'Zim,' I whispered desperately. 'Zim, it's me, Nick. Do you remember me? Wake up! Help us! Please!'

Zim dragged me towards the fire without any word. Marina meanwhile pulled out a little bottle from her bag and poured some dark liquid into the cup. They acted in complete silence. Zim, standing beside me and looking at Marina, also was silent. Marina grabbed the knife and the cup and stepped towards us.

'No,' I screamed and tried to kick her. Zim, holding my arms tightly, pressed me to the ground. The old woman looked at us indifferently from behind the fire. Marina sneered. Her face was eerie in the light of flames. She grabbed my hand and raised the knife.

I squeezed my eyes shut. They say that in the last minute of life, people see their whole life. The pictures of Mum, Dad, the gang and others floated into my mind, one by one. A tear strolled down my cheek.

But Marina didn't hit me into my heart, as I expected. She just ran the knife over my arm. Blood spurted from the wound. Marina filled up the cup with my blood and said something to Zim. He let go of me and I collapsed onto the ground, pressing my hand to the wound.

Marina handed the cup over to the old woman. The latter grabbed the cup and drank its content at a draught. Her lips began to move. She was whispering something, moaning from time to time.

Suddenly her head and hands started jerking. She was rocking from side to side. Gradually her whispering turned into a hollow wail. Her head thrown back, her mouth opened. And spreading her arms, the old woman began to grow slowly. I remembered very well that she only came up to Marina's shoulder. But now they were almost of the same height.

I stared at them for a while, then I realized that no one watched me. Marina was too busy, and Zim was gazing at the old woman with his jaw dropped. Slowly I crawled away from the fire. It was difficult to crawl with the wounded hand, but I didn't give up. Doing my best not to attract attention, I moved away from them. The main thing is to cross the fire circle and reach the bush, I thought. Then I caught sight of Tom. Damn, I shouted to myself. I can't leave him here! Who will I be after that?

I crawled up to him and started to untie him, but one of my hands was injured and didn't work properly. I looked back at the witches and froze. Their faces were on the same level now because the old woman's legs were hanging above the ground.

'She's flying,' I whispered. 'Flying!'

Suddenly the old witch collapsed onto the ground with scream. Marina rushed to help her. I went on untying Tom in a panic. The old woman meanwhile stood up.

'More, more,' she wailed. 'I need more!'

A palm dropped on my shoulder and spun me around. Zim grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the fire.

'No,' I resisted. 'Zim, please!' He threw me down on the ground.

'Where are you going, sunshine?' Marina hissed angrily. 'We haven't finished yet.'

She rushed to her bag and poured some dark liquid into the cup again. Then she took the knife and grabbed my hand.

'Please, don't…' I whispered. She looked horrible in the light of flames. Zim gripped me tightly, I couldn't even move. Marina raised the knife again. I squeezed my eyes shut.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11. The rescue**

'No,' I heard Dad roar.

Am I dreaming? I thought. Of course, I'm dreaming, how could dad get here? Or I've already died…

I opened my eyes. No, I wasn't dreaming. Dad, Greta Vortek and two policemen were running towards the fire. The old witch collapsed on the ground and convulsed. Marina quickly ordered something to Zim. He threw me away and he attacked Dad. But Dad knocked Zim down and crashed the torch on his head. Marina tried to run for it, but Mr Brinkly, Brian and two policemen caught up with her and grabbed her hands. A policeman put the handcuffs on her wrists.

Dad fell down on his knees beside me and gave me a tight hug.

'How are you?' he gasped. I managed to nod in reply. The relief was enormous. I couldn't even speak.

'Okay, okay, it's finished,' he mumbled, patting my back. His shirt and hands were daubed with my blood, which was still trickling from the wound.

Brian and Sunny, meanwhile, untied Tom. Mrs Chan knelt down next to me and examined my hand. She opened her first aid kit and quickly bandaged my injured hand. Then she stood up and came up to Tom.

Circled fire had been already put out. A policeman came to the big fire, pushing Marina in front of him.

'Put her in a sack! In a sack!' Elmo shouted, helping Zim to his feet. 'She can turn into a cat and run away!'

On hearing his words, Marina burst into hysterical laughter. Her grandmother was lying on the ground near the fire, her eyes closed. Mrs Chan felt her pulse.

'Alive,' she said briefly. The policeman nodded put the handcuffs on her wrists too.

Zim had already come to himself and was sitting on the ground, rolling his eyes madly.

'Elmo, where am I?' he asked. 'What's going on?'

'Everything's okay, Dad,' Elmo said gently. He came up to me. 'How is he?' he asked my father.

'Fine,' Dad replied, helping me to my feet. 'Nick, can you go?

I nodded. My legs hardly moved, and my whole body ached, but at least we were alive.

Greta came up to us and patted Dad on his shoulder. 'Good job,' she said. Then she glanced at me. 'We'll deal with you two later.'

###

We spent the rest of the night in the hospital. Tom and I were examined by the doctor there. He said that we had drug poisoning. Besides, we had a lot of bruises, cuts and my hand was wounded. We'd been staying for several days in hospital after that night.

Zim completely came to himself only the next morning. When he learnt what had happened, he was shocked. He visited my and Tom's parents and apologized to them. They forgave him, of course. Even my Mum. Actually no one blamed Zim, everyone understood that he was Marina's victim as well as Tom and me. And to Elmo's pleasure, Zim announced that he'd never marry again. 'I'm fed up with one girlfriend-witch,' he repeated all the time.

All people in Raven Hill were horrified. Our parents, Mrs Eagle, Mrs Ramsey and other people, who get on with Marina couldn't believe that they trusted her, and the more, they let her treat their children. Dad said that when Mum heard the truth about that "wonderful tisane", Marina had made for me, she was about to strangle Marina with her own hands.

But at least, the Pen received a long-awaited scoop.

###

At first I really thought that it was a miracle that Dad and the others had appeared that night near the Witch Lake, but of course, it wasn't.

Liz told me later that when she'd arrived home, she had been worried about us. In half of an hour she called Elmo and asked him if we called or not. Elmo answered that we hadn't called yet.

'Let's wait a bit,' he said. 'Dad isn't home either.'

As soon as Liz hung up, the phone rang again. It was Tom's mother.

'Liz, is Tom with you?' she asked.

'No,' replied Liz. 'He went home.'

'Oh… okay, if you hear from Tom, please ask him to call home,' Mrs Merfy sobbed. 'I'm so worried about him. He quarreled with Brian and I'm afraid he could run away.'

'Sure, Mrs Merfy, I'll call you if I hear something from him,' Liz said.

She hung up and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. The phone rang again. It was Richelle.

'Liz,' she said in a low voice. 'Nick's father has just called me. Nick hasn't come home yet.'

The rest of the gang felt alarm. Liz and Richelle were forbidden to go out that night, but Elmo and Sunny ran to Marina's house. Everything was all right there. Then the front door threw open and Zim and Marina went out, laughing out loud. They kissed and Zim went over to his car.

'Elmo?' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?'

'I…We were worried about you. It's very late,' Elmo mumbled.

'Oh, I'm fine, thanks,' Zim smiled and slipped into the driver's seat. 'Let's go home then.'

Elmo and Sunny looked at each other and let themselves in the car.

'Dad, did you notice anything weird here?' Elmo asked.

'No, not at all,' Zim shook his head, smiling dreamily. 'You know Elmo, Marina is a wonderful woman! I even think about marriage.'

They dropped Sunny off at the gate of her house and drove home.

###

That night my and Tom's parents informed the police that we hadn't come home, but cops didn't take it seriously. They assured our parents that we must have run away from home; they said that teenagers often did such things.

Mum and Dad couldn't believe that. They knew that I would never run away, I hadn't got any reason for that; especially it was unbelievable that I could have run away together with Tom.

###

The next morning the others met in Elmo's place. Liz and Richelle were crying.

'They haven't come home,' Liz sobbed.

'Liz, Richelle, pull yourself together,' Sunny frowned. 'It's no use crying.'

'It's our fault,' Elmo said quietly. 'We should have gone there together.'

'We shouldn't have pried into this witchcraft business from the start!' Richelle shouted.

'What are they going to do with them?' Liz whispered.

'I don't know,' Elmo responded. 'But whatever they're planning to do, it won't be good.'

'Oh, come on!' Sunny exclaimed. 'They won't kill them, will they?

'Sunny, we don't know what they can do! We can't risk their lives,' Liz yelled.

'Let's speak with Nick's mother,' Sunny suggested. 'She knows Marina very well.'

'It's useless, she won't believe us,' Elmo shook his head. 'And even worse, she can pass our words to Marina. After that the guys will be still in danger, and we might get into trouble as well. Besides, we don't have any real evidence.'

Sunny nibbled her bottom lips. 'Okay, let's summarize,' she said calmly. 'We can't go to the police, because they think that the guys've run away from home and they won't believe in this which story. And we can't go to our parents, because Nick's mother adores Marina, Zim is in love with her as a boy, Brian is angry with Tom because he ignored Brian's prohibition and went out last night, my mum completely doesn't believe in magic and she'll just laugh and say "run and play children", and Richelle and Liz's parents won't believe either, but will be scared that we are in trouble again and won't let the girls go out. It's a vicious circle. What do we do?'

'I reckon we should go to Nick's father,' Richelle suggested. 'He's smart, reasonable, calm person. He'll help.'

'I'm afraid Mr Kontellis won't believe that a friend of his wife's is a witch either,' Liz sighed.

'We'll make him listen to us,' insisted Richelle. 'We are talking about his son's life, aren't we? I'm sure that they don't believe in this stuff about running away. Unlike Tom, Nick doesn't have problems with his parents.'

'Richelle's right,' Elmo nodded. 'Nick and Tom are in real danger and we must do our best to convince someone to help us. I'm absolutely sure that the guys are safe till midnight. If they were caught red-handed, they must be locked in Marina's place now. I think that the witches are going to the Sabbath tonight. That gives us several hours to find them.'

'Why do you think that they are going to run the Sabbath tonight?' Sunny looked at him. The full moon usually stays three nights or so.'

'Parnass says that witches usually run their Sabbaths at the first night of the full moon,' Elmo answered. 'And we know the place where it'll happen. We must convince Mr Kontellis or the police to go there.

'They can go to another place,' Sunny pointed out.

'No, Parnass writes that witches have their favourite places for Sabbaths,' Elmo explained. 'They usually use one and the same place.'

'And Galina lived there,' Liz added. 'And this place is so spooky and distant; no one will go there at night.'

'It's a horrible place, you mean.' Richelle shivered.

'Nick's mum said to my mum that Mr Kontellis is working at home today,' Liz said.

'Good. Let's go then,' Elmo said firmly, standing up. 'We won't cope with two witches and my father on our own.'

###

Mum opened the door. Her eyes were red, as though she'd been crying all night long. Elmo said that they wanted to speak with dad. Dad told them to settle in his study and got mum to bed.

'Well?' Dad demanded, sitting down at his desk. 'What do you want to say?'

'About witches,' Richelle said.

'About _what_?' Dad scowled.

'We want to speak about witches,' Richelle repeated. 'In fact, about two witches.'

###

Elmo told the whole story from the beginning, when we'd found the weird amulet, to the end. When he fell silent Dad stared at him gloomily and frowned. 'Are you kidding me?' he exploded.

'No, it's truth,' Liz exclaimed.

'Don't you believe us?' Sunny asked him directly.

'What did you expect?' dad drawled. 'You come here and tell me a stupid story while my son…'

'I know, at first we didn't believe in it either,' Liz interrupted. 'But it's truth, I swear!'

'So, you reckon that Nick and Tom are locked in these women's house, right? Marina, a friend of Toula's keeps them locked, right?'

The others nodded.

'You are saying that such fragile woman and her old grandmother, who can hardly walk, have caught two big teenagers and locked them? Look, it isn't funny at all!' he shouted suddenly. 'Can you hear me? It's a serious matter!'

'We're not kidding!' Richelle whispered, her eyes full of tears. 'We're also worried about them!'

Dad looked at her attentively.

'Please, convince the police to search out Marina's house,' Liz exclaimed. 'We're sure that the guys are there!'

'They will go to the Sabbath tonight, and we don't know what they are going to do with Tom and Nick,' Richelle sobbed. 'They can sacrifice them. Please, believe us!'

'I'll call the police, of course,' dad said slowly. 'But you must understand that we don't have evidences. We don't even know if this cat exists or not. And even if it exists, we can't use it as evidence.'

'Yes, but we know exactly that Tom and Nick went to Marina's place last night and didn't come home after that,' Sunny said calmly. 'The police must check her place.'

'Okay,' dad sighed and pick up the phone to call the police.

He told them everything and insisted on Marina's house being searched. But it did no good, because we were in other place.

While the police was searching Marina's place, Greta Vortek, the policewoman we knew, came to my house to speak with the others. She knew us very well, and she knew that she could trust us. But when Elmo repeated the story for her, she looked at them in disbelief.

'Maybe you are confusing things?' she shook her head.

'We aren't confusing anything!' Liz roared. 'There's no point in lying! Please, believe us!'

'Evidences,' Greta spread her hands. 'I need evidences! Don't you understand that we can't arrest this woman and her grandmother without evidences? We've searched their house. It's clear. Neither boys nor ritual stuff were found. Nothing!'

'So you reckon that we should wait till they kill the boys for you to receive evidences?' Sunny resented.

'No, of course not,' Greta sighed.

'Let's go to the Witch Lake tonight,' Elmo suggested. 'Wherever they're keeping the guys now, they'll bring them to the Witch Lake.'

'What if they've already killed them as witnesses?' Richelle widened her eyes.

'I doubt it,' Elmo shook his head. 'There's no need to kill them as witnesses. It wouldn't be difficult for the police to find out the truth. I think Marina understands it. She's got plans in this suburb. Besides, if they wanted to get rid of the guys, they could just report to the police that Tom and Nick were trying to invade the private property or something.'

'To go out of town at night?' Greta sighed. 'You amaze me, kids!' She thought for a while and then added, 'maybe your method will work.'

'We don't know exactly if it works or not,' Elmo shrugged. 'We don't even know if the guys buried the kerchief under Marina's porch. It's stupid to rely on it,'

'You're right,' Greta drawled. 'Okay, I'll go. I'll take two policemen, whom I trust. I hope you understand that I can't officially send policemen there. Imagine what my boss will say if I tell him that I need people to go to the bog at night to hunt witches.'

'I'll go too,' dad said firmly.

'No,' Greta answered briefly.

'Miss Vortek, my son is going to be killed! I can't sit home, just waiting around. Besides, the more people, the better, right?'

'I'll go too,' Sunny said.

'So will I,' Elmo added.

'If something happens to you people, I'll have to answer,' Greta scowled.

'If something happens to us, you'll receive evidences,' Sunny smiled.

'Besides, we'll go with your permission or without,' Elmo added.

'What can I do with you?' Greta spread her arms. 'Okay, we'll all go. But you all must execute my orders without arguments.'

###

By eleven o'clock dad, Sunny, Elmo, Greta Vortek and two policemen together with Mrs Chan, Tom's stepfather Brian and Mr Brinkly, who insisted on going too, met on the outskirts of town. Elmo led them to the Witch Lake to the place where we'd found a weird fire. By the time they reached the place, Marina had already grabbed my arm for the second time.

'No!' dad roared and ran to the fire.

###

Tom and I had to stay in hospital for two days after that night. When finally the doctor let us go home, Greta and the others came to visit me. We sat around our dining table, eating chocolate cake and drinking tea.

Greta told us that Marina and her grandmother had been wanted for several years. Actually Barbara wasn't Marina's grandmother. The old woman headed the sect of witches, as they called themselves. Except Marina and Barbara, this sect included ten or so other women. Barbara taught young beautiful women how to use herbs and their natural charm. Using tisanes and hypnosis they easily made people trust them and then robbed them. Nothing could stop them. They did everything to receive what they wanted. They lied, robbed and even murdered their victims. They didn't do it by themselves, though. They made other people kill, using hypnosis or tisanes. That was why they were clear and the police couldn't catch them.

On the interrogation Barbara said proudly that she was a hereditary witch, but she had no connections with Galina and didn't know anything about her. The women moved from town to town, suburb to suburb, found appropriate people and made friends with them. Then Barbara came to one of her women and they did their rituals. When people started to suspect something they ran away, stealing everything they could steal from deceived people.

As it turned out they weren't going to kill Tom and me. Well, at least they weren't going to kill us that night, they just wanted some blood. Old Barbara drank it at the time of the full moon to rejuvenate herself. But as practice showed, they would get rid of us as witnesses after that.

Strangely, but Parnass's method had worked. During the interrogation Barbara said that something disturbed her all that day long. Who knows, maybe if it hadn't been for the spelled kerchief, buried under Marina's porch, Dad and the others could have come too late.

'How are they doing in goal?' Liz asked.

'Oh, don't you know? Only Marina is doing now,' Greta replied. 'The old woman died few days ago.'


End file.
